Two countries can look at the same problem and do completely opposite things. One builds coal plants, another builds wind farms; one drains an aquifer, another recycles every drop. Neither is being irrational. Each is answering a question shaped by its money, its politics, its geography and its history.
📘 What you need to know
Resource security is the ability of a society to ensure the long-term availability of enough natural resources to meet demand.
The key resources are water, food, energy and raw materials.
Resource security matters because it gives a stable supply, helps prevent conflict and supports sustainable development.
Security differs hugely between societies — compare a high-income country with a low-income one.
International agreements, such as the Paris Agreement and net zero targets, change national resource choices.
You should be able to discuss real examples, not memorise fixed case studies.
What resource security means
Definition
Resource security is the ability of societies to ensure the long-term
availability of sufficient natural resources to meet demand
Two words in that definition are doing the heavy lifting. Long-term rules out solutions that work this year and fail in ten. Sufficient means enough for everyone who needs it, not merely enough somewhere in the country.
A society can be insecure in one resource and completely secure in another. Somewhere may have plenty of food and almost no energy of its own; somewhere else may sit on enormous energy reserves and import nearly all its food. Always say which resource you are talking about.
Why it matters
A stable supply for current and future needs, so prices and availability do not swing wildly.
Fewer resource conflicts, since competition over scarce water, land and minerals is a well-known driver of tension between and within countries.
Support for sustainable development, because a society that is not scrambling for the next harvest can plan for the long term.
Insecurity and unsustainability feed each other. A country short of fuel burns whatever is nearest, which is often the forest, which then worsens erosion and flooding, which damages the harvest. The escape from that loop usually needs money or technology, which is exactly what the countries stuck in it do not have.
Two societies, two different problems
The clearest way to show you understand resource security is to compare contrasting societies. Here is one pairing.
You do not have to learn these two examples. You do have to be able to build a comparison like this for any pair you are given.
The seven factors behind resource choices
Societies do not choose resources at random, and they do not always choose the greenest or the cheapest. Seven groups of factors push the decision, and usually several act at once.
A country with cheap coal underfoot, an industry built on it and voters employed by it is facing economic, geographical, historical and political pressure all at once.
Factor
How it pushes the decision
Economic
Cost and availability decide what gets used, and strong market demand pulls a resource into heavy use
Sociocultural
Traditional foods, fuels and materials shape what people want, while population growth raises total demand
Political
Government regulations and subsidies encourage or block particular resources; trade deals and conflicts control who can obtain them
Environmental
Concern about environmental damage favours cleaner options, and climate change alters which resources remain viable
Geographical
Being close to a resource makes it the obvious choice; frequent natural disasters narrow the options
Technological
Innovation can create new resources, unlock hard-to-reach ones, or make existing use far more efficient
Historical
Long use of one resource builds dependency; past colonial exploitation still shapes who controls resources today
🧠
Seven factors, one prompt
Economic, Sociocultural, Political, Environmental, Geographical, Technological, Historical. Work down the list, stop at the two or three that genuinely apply, and explain those properly rather than listing all seven thinly.
A local example: water in Australia
Australia has focused hard on water conservation, because much of it is arid and droughts are frequent. Four factors are visible in that single choice.
Economic — using water efficiently cuts costs for farms and cities.
Political — government schemes promote water-saving measures and pay for the infrastructure.
Environmental — conservation protects water ecosystems and secures supply for the future.
Technological — better irrigation and water recycling stretch the same rainfall further.
How international agreements change choices
Resource decisions are no longer made purely inside national borders. Agreements such as the Paris Agreement commit countries to cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and many have set dates for reaching carbon neutrality, also called net zero.
Those targets ripple straight down into resource use. They push countries towards renewable energy instead of fossil fuels, towards farming practices with a smaller carbon footprint, and towards local policies that line up with global goals.
Example
The choice being made
Why
Germany
Prioritising wind and solar power, aiming for net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045
Economic gains in jobs and lower energy imports; political subsidies; environmental pressure to cut coal use; better renewable technology
Norway
Pushing hard on electric vehicles to meet carbon neutrality targets
Tax exemptions and incentives make EVs cheap; government funds charging networks; emissions fall; battery and charging technology has improved
Do not memorise these case studies word for word. Examiners want you to discuss real examples that show how resource security and resource choices differ between nations, especially between countries in different regions or at different stages of development. Your own country’s example is worth just as much as one from a textbook.
One more layer worth adding, if you have room: the environmental value system behind the decision. A technocentric government answers water shortage by building a desalination plant; an ecocentric one answers it by reducing demand and restoring the catchment. Same shortage, same facts, different worldview, different resource choice.
Worked examples
WE 1
Define resource security and explain its importance
Define resource security and outline two reasons it is important to a society. (3 marks)
The definition
Resource security is the ability of a society to ensure the long-term availability of sufficient natural resources to meet demand, including water, food, energy and raw materials.
Reason 1: stability
It guarantees supply for current and future needs, so a society is not exposed to shortages or price shocks.
Reason 2: peace and planning
It reduces the risk of conflict over scarce resources and supports sustainable development.
Enough, for everyone, for the long termuse the exact words “long-term” and “sufficient” — the definition mark usually depends on them
WE 2
Compare resource security in two contrasting societies
Compare and contrast the factors affecting resource security in a high-income and a low-income country. (4 marks)
Similarity
Both are shaped by the same categories of factor — economic, political, technological and environmental.
Difference 1: economic
A high-income country can invest heavily in research and infrastructure, while a low-income country may lack funds even for basic water supply.
Difference 2: technological
Advanced irrigation, crop technology and purification raise security in one; their absence lowers it in the other.
Difference 3: political and geographical
Subsidies and stable government can support supply, whereas depending on an upstream neighbour for a river leaves a country exposed regardless of its own policies.
Same factor list, opposite outcomes“compare and contrast” needs at least one similarity, not only differences
WE 3
Explain how an international agreement changes resource use
Explain how international agreements can influence the natural resources a country chooses to use. (3 marks)
Point 1: what the agreement does
Agreements such as the Paris Agreement commit countries to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and many set a date for reaching net zero.
Point 2: the effect on choices
To meet the target, governments shift from fossil fuels towards renewable energy and support lower-carbon farming.
Point 3: a real example
Germany is prioritising wind and solar in pursuit of net zero by 2045, backed by subsidies and improved renewable technology.
A global target becomes a national policy, which becomes a change in resource usethe chain from agreement to policy to actual resource is what earns the third mark
💡 Exam tips
Learn the definition of resource security precisely, including long-term and sufficient.
Always state which resource: food, water, energy or raw materials.
Have one high-income and one low-income example ready, and be able to compare them by factor.
For each factor you name, say how it changes the decision. Naming alone is not enough.
Know one international agreement and one country responding to it.
Bring in environmental value systems where the question invites a judgement.
⚠ Common mix-ups
Treating resource security as just “having lots of resources”. It is about reliable long-term access for the whole population.
Assuming rich countries are secure in everything. Many are heavily dependent on imported energy or food.
Assuming low-income countries are insecure in everything. Plenty have abundant resources and a problem with access or infrastructure instead.
Listing all seven factors thinly. Two or three explained properly score better.
Memorising case studies word for word. You are being tested on the reasoning, not on recall of one textbook example.
Ignoring history. Colonial legacies and long-established dependencies still shape who controls resources today.
That completes 7.1 Natural Resources: Uses and Management. The four pages tell one story: nature is a stock that produces a flow, that flow has many kinds of value, the flow only lasts if you stay within it, and every society answers that challenge differently. Up next: Energy Sources and How Sustainable They Are, which takes the same thinking and applies it to the resource that powers everything else.
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