GP Environment Essay: People power is the answer to solving environmental problems.

This is a H1 General Paper Environment essay question that our team has prepared for you!

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GP Environment Essay Cheat Sheet: “People power is the answer to solving environmental problems.” Discuss.

Firstly, let’s support the questions stand and argue that people power is indeed the answer to solving environmental problems.

Point 1: People have greater mobility and freedom as compared to governments and corporation, and their actions are vital taking the first step in solving environmental issues.

  • Without the layers of bureaucratic red-tape and top-down decision-making that entangle governments and companies, people are better able to organise and carry out operations easily.
  • Grassroots leaders and non-governmental organisations are often able to amass the support of a large number of people. This translates into the large amount of manpower that is often needed when implementing efforts to solve environmental problems.

Point 2: Unlike governments and firms, there are unlimited possibilities as to how people are grouped together and allocated for each task.

  • The environmental activist organisation Greenpeace has a global outreach with a presence in many countries, a feat only possible when organised by the people. It regularly carries out campaigns and petitions and even checks the operations of companies for any environmental-damaging activities, both done by each country’s Greenpeace volunteers.

Point 3: The people also hold the power to influence corporations and businesses.

  • In recent years, there is a rise in ethical consumption. Producers are compelled to appease consumers and since people have the power to choose what they consume or ‘vote with their wallet’; their choices determine the decisions made by profit-seeking firms. Labels and certificates like the symbolic ‘green frog’ label by the Rainforest Alliance and the Fairtrade labels help consumers choose products that are sourced and produced sustainably, thereby sidelining companies which do not abide by the same environmental standards.
  • This has led to an increase of ‘new-age’ products that are identifiable by their minimal and minimalist packaging and recycled paper tags detailing stories behind them. These products abound in food, fashion and other retail industries such as Norwegian salmon, which is caught using nets with the right-sized holes to prevent young fish from being caught. With a slew of accreditation labels, such as those by the Forest Stewardship Council, and the Marine Stewardship Council, people are now given even more power to make informed choices and influence firms to change their often unsustainable practices.

Now, to score some additional marks, we should evaluate one of the points. Let’s have a rebuttal to Point 3.

Rebuttal: However, the people’s power to influence business decisions cannot yet rival the power of regulators.

  • It is through the government that effective environmental policies are put in place. The Singapore government, through the Green Building Council, has laid out regulations to incentivise developers to build clean and eco-friendly buildings, by awarding them Green Mark Certificates.

Next up, to offer balance to our essay, we shall argue that people power might not be the answer to solving environmental problems.

Point 1: Critics may argue that there is a limit to people power, as although they have the ability to gather a large number of people, the changes they make are small and do not create much of an impact.

  • In 2018 and 2019, students across the world held strikes to protest against inaction in stopping climate change. In Paris alone, over 350,000 students showed up for the strike in 2019. Germany saw approximately the same number of students striking (300,000). Sadly, the students’ efforts are trivialised and quickly dismissed as truancy.

Point 2: Furthermore, companies in seeking to become popular, may only package their products to project a green image instead of undertaking concrete changes to their production methods.

  • Volkswagen recently announced that it had understated the carbon dioxide emissions of its cars, making them seem more carbon-efficient than they really are.

Let’s also evaluate one of the points here. Specifically, Point 1.

Rebuttal: However, it is important to note that people are the ones that get the ball rolling, as ultimately, they pressure the government and firms to implement the green initiatives needed.

  • Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which no country wants to clean up is not under any country’s jurisdiction and would generate phenomenal costs.    
  • On the other hand, the Ocean Clean-up Foundation, an international team of expert volunteers, has successfully conducted extensive research, with the operation being crowdfunded, culminating in a viable solution that it to be piloted in stages.

If you liked this GP Environment Essay Cheat Sheet, our team will be updating regularly with more of such questions, so stay tuned!

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One Reply to “GP Environment Essay: People power is the answer to solving environmental problems.”

  1. Thank you so much for all these wonderfully done contents!! keep up the good work

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