OxfordAQA IGCSE Pakistan Studies: Creating a Sustainable Future — Revision Notes

These notes condense optional topic 3.2.4 of OxfordAQA International GCSE Pakistan Studies 9236, Creating a Sustainable Future for Pakistan, examined in Paper 2 Section C. For each issue, learn the causes, the impacts and at least one named strategy, then be ready to judge how effective that strategy has been.

Syllabus coverage

9236 topic 3.2.4 (Version 1.9)

• 3.2.4.1 Pollution (air, water, soil, noise); deforestation; desertification; biodiversity protection at local, national and international scales
• 3.2.4.2 Climate change consequences; Paris Agreement and National Adaptation Plan; mitigation; adaptation
• 3.2.4.3 Regional differences in development; strategies to reduce them; education and gender equality; food security

Key terms

Term	Meaning
Sustainable development	Meeting present needs without harming future generations’ ability to meet theirs
Smog	Mix of smoke, fog and pollutants, common in Lahore in winter
Deforestation	Permanent removal of forest
Afforestation / reforestation	Planting trees on new land / replanting cleared land
Desertification	Spread of desert conditions in dry areas through climate and human misuse
Biodiversity	Variety of plant and animal life
Mitigation	Reducing the causes of climate change
Adaptation	Reducing the harm caused by climate change
GLOF	Glacial lake outburst flood
Food security	Reliable access to enough affordable, nutritious food

Environmental issues

Pollution

• Air: vehicles, brick kilns, industry, crop burning → Lahore smog, lung disease.
• Water: untreated sewage and factory waste → disease, damage to rivers and coast.
• Soil: agrochemicals, salinity, waste → lower yields.
• Noise: traffic, generators, construction → stress and hearing damage.

Deforestation

• Causes: fuelwood, timber, farmland, housing, over-grazing, illegal logging.
• Impacts: erosion, landslides, floods, silting of reservoirs, habitat loss.
• Strategies: Billion Tree Tsunami (KP, 2014); Ten Billion Tree Tsunami (2018); mangrove protection; LPG instead of wood.

Desertification

• Areas: Thar, Cholistan, Thal, Balochistan.
• Causes: drought, over-grazing, fuelwood cutting, over-pumping, salinity.
• Strategies: shelter belts, controlled grazing, drip irrigation, water harvesting, small dams.

Biodiversity

• Local: community trophy-hunting schemes protecting markhor.
• National: national parks (Khunjerab, Margalla Hills, Kirthar, Hingol); protection of the Indus river dolphin.
• International: WWF, UN conventions.

Climate change

Consequences

• Heatwaves (Karachi 2015).
• Glacier melt and GLOF risk in the north.
• Extreme floods: 2022 — large areas of Sindh and Balochistan under water; more than 1,700 deaths; damage and losses about US$30 billion.
• Drought; sea-level rise and saltwater intrusion in the Indus delta.

Responses

Mitigation	Adaptation
More solar, wind and hydro (Alternative and Renewable Energy Policy 2019)	Early warning (Pakistan Meteorological Department)
Electric vehicle policy	Disaster preparedness (NDMA)
Mass transit	Heatwave plans
Reforestation	Flood embankments, raised homes, wetland protection

Agreements: Paris Agreement (keep warming well below 2°C); National Adaptation Plan (2023); push for a loss and damage fund at the 2022 UN climate conference.

Development and equality

• Least developed: Balochistan and the former tribal districts (merged into KP in 2018).
• Factors: physical, economic, social and political.
• Strategies: NFC award shares revenue with provinces; BISP (2008) and Ehsaas cash transfers to poor women; infrastructure and CPEC projects.
• Education: Article 25A (free schooling 5–16); girls’ stipends; local schools; female teachers.
• Gender: reserved seats, anti-harassment and anti-violence laws.
• Food security: price rises, floods and drought threaten supply; child stunting is widespread; strategies include farmer support, water management, wheat reserves, nutrition programmes.

Judging effectiveness: a quick framework

For any strategy, ask four questions and use them to structure an evaluation:

1. Scale: how many people or how much land does it reach?
2. Cost: who pays, and can it be afforded long term?
3. Evidence: is there a named result, such as hectares replanted or lives saved?
4. Sustainability: will the benefit last, and does it create new problems?

Example: the Billion Tree Tsunami reached a large area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and was praised internationally, but its long-term success depends on saplings surviving and on protection from logging and grazing.

Worked example

Question: Explain how deforestation increases the risk of flooding. [4]

Model answer: Trees intercept rainfall and their roots help water soak into the soil [1]. When forests are cleared, more rain flows quickly over the surface into rivers [1]. Bare soil is eroded and washed into rivers and reservoirs, raising riverbeds and reducing storage [1]. So rivers rise faster and higher during heavy rain, increasing the risk of floods downstream [1].

Common mistakes and exam traps

• Mixing up mitigation and adaptation. Planting trees is mitigation; flood warnings are adaptation.
• Vague “the government should” answers. Name a specific programme or law.
• Ignoring scale. The specification asks about local, national and international strategies.
• No judgement on effectiveness. Say whether a strategy worked and why.

How is this topic examined?

This topic is examined in OxfordAQA 9236 Paper 2, Section C, worth 21 of the paper’s 77 marks; each paper lasts 1 hour 30 minutes. The section mixes short and extended response questions on this optional topic. Short items reward precise named facts, so learn the dates, places and people in the tables above; the extended responses reward a clear line of argument, two or three developed points with evidence, and a judgement that answers the question.

Frequently asked questions

Why is Lahore’s smog worst in winter? Cold, still air traps pollution near the ground, while crop burning, traffic and brick kilns add smoke and particles.

What is the NFC award? The National Finance Commission award, which sets how federal tax revenue is shared among the provinces.

Related pages

• Creating a Sustainable Future study guide
• Creating a Sustainable Future practice questions
• Landscape revision notes

Source: OxfordAQA, International GCSE Pakistan Studies (9236) specification, Version 1.9, topic 3.2.4.