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Subjects · Leaving Cert Politics & Society

Leaving Cert Politics & Society: Climate, environment & development

How often Climate, environment & development comes up on the Politics & Society papers, every year it was asked, and questions to try.

HL Asked on 6 of the last 7 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2025. most years

OL Asked on 3 of the last 7 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2025.

Climate, environment & development, Higher Level(6 marks)

Quick ones on Climate, environment & development.

(a)Which approach links the oppression of women with the exploitation of nature?
  1. Modernisation theory
  2. Ecofeminism
  3. Libertarianism
(b)What did Vandana Shiva call western-led development that harms nature and women?
  1. Sustainable development
  2. Underdevelopment
  3. Maldevelopment
(c)Which movement, in which rural Indian women hugged trees to stop logging, does Shiva often cite?
  1. The Chipko movement
  2. The Green Belt Movement
  3. The Salt March
Show the answers

(a) Ecofeminism

(b) Maldevelopment

(c) The Chipko movement

Your turn: Higher Level questions on Climate, environment & development.

Higher Level

Asked on 6 of the last 7 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2025. most years

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2025Q1j, Q4
2024Q1h
2023Q1h
2022Q1i, Q4
2021Q1k, Q4a
2019Not asked
2018Q2

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Climate, environment & development questions

Climate, environment & development, 3 marks

What does Shiva mean by 'biopiracy'?

  1. Smuggling rare and endangered animals across borders for sale
  2. Illegal fishing in another country's waters
  3. Firms patenting traditional plants and knowledge
Show the answer

Firms patenting traditional plants and knowledge

Shiva argues that patents on seeds and plants (e.g. neem) let corporations claim what communities developed over generations.

Climate, environment & development, 2 marks

Which 1990 book by Seán McDonagh links the church with ecology?

  1. Laudato Si'
  2. The Greening of the Church
  3. Imagined Communities
Show the answer

The Greening of the Church

McDonagh argued that care for the earth is a religious duty. Laudato Si' is Pope Francis's 2015 encyclical on the environment.

Climate, environment & development, 2 marks

What is the main human cause of recent global warming?

  1. Burning fossil fuels
  2. Changes in the Earth's orbit
  3. Volcanic eruptions
Show the answer

Burning fossil fuels

Coal, oil and gas release carbon dioxide, which traps heat. Deforestation and farming add further greenhouse gases.

Ordinary Level

Asked on 3 of the last 7 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2025.

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2025Q1o, Q2
2024Not asked
2023Q1o, Q5
2022Not asked
2021Not asked
2019Not asked
2018Q1h

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Climate, environment & development questions

Climate, environment & development, 2 marks

Which thinker links damage to nature with harm done to women by western-style development?

  1. André Gunder Frank
  2. Robert Nozick
  3. Vandana Shiva
Show the answer

Vandana Shiva

Shiva, an Indian ecofeminist, argues industrial farming pushed women, the traditional carers of land and seed, into poverty. She promotes biodiversity and farmers' control of seeds.

Climate, environment & development, 2 marks

Seán McDonagh, an Irish Columban priest, is known for linking what?

  1. Banking and international development
  2. Religion and care for the environment
  3. Sport and national identity in Ireland
Show the answer

Religion and care for the environment

McDonagh argued that growth-driven development destroys ecosystems and called for small-scale, sustainable living. He influenced church thinking on ecology.

Climate, environment & development, 3 marks

What is the central idea of 'climate justice'?

  1. Those least to blame for climate change often suffer most
  2. Climate change affects all people in exactly the same way
  3. Rich countries suffer most because they use the most energy
Show the answer

Those least to blame for climate change often suffer most

Poorer countries emit little yet face droughts, floods and crop failure. Mary Robinson links climate action to human rights; supporters argue richer states should do and pay more.

Other Politics & Society topics

All of Leaving Cert Politics & Society