How and why is the world using more resources, and what is an ecological footprint?
Rising resource consumption, the difference between renewable and non-renewable resources, and the meaning of the ecological footprint (AO1, AO2).
A focused CCEA GCSE Geography guide to resource consumption. Covers why the world is using more resources, the difference between renewable and non-renewable resources, what an ecological footprint is, and why footprints differ so much between richer and poorer countries.
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What this dot point is asking
CCEA wants you to explain why the world is using more resources, the difference between renewable and non-renewable resources, and the idea of the ecological footprint. This is the foundation of the Managing Our Environment theme: it sets up the impacts of rising consumption and the case for sustainable management. You should be able to explain the causes of rising demand and why footprints differ so much between richer and poorer countries.
Why consumption is rising
Renewable and non-renewable resources
The key difference is replacement: renewables refill or never run out; non-renewables are finite. Sustainability depends on shifting towards renewables.
The ecological footprint
Worked example: explaining uneven footprints
Common mistakes
Examples in context
Example 1. Why one phone hides a huge footprint. A single smartphone takes metals mined around the world, energy to manufacture and ship, and power to charge every day, and is often replaced within a few years. Multiplied across billions of people growing richer, this is why technology drives resource consumption so hard, and why the footprint of a high-consuming lifestyle is far larger than it first appears.
Example 2. Several planets needed. Scientists estimate that if everyone on Earth consumed like the average person in a wealthy country, humanity would need the resources of several planets to keep up. This stark idea captures the problem of uneven, rising consumption and explains why the rest of the theme focuses on the impacts and on managing resources sustainably.
Try this
Q1. Give one renewable and one non-renewable resource. [2 marks]
- Cue. Renewable: solar, wind, hydro or tidal. Non-renewable: coal, oil, gas or minerals.
Q2. Give two reasons world resource consumption is rising. [2 marks]
- Cue. Any two: population growth, rising wealth and development, industrialisation and technology, urbanisation.
Q3. What does the ecological footprint measure? [2 marks]
- Cue. The area of land and sea needed to provide a person's resources and absorb their waste.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of CCEA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
CCEA Unit 2 (style)4 marksExplain the difference between renewable and non-renewable resources, with an example of each.Show worked answer →
Four marks, two for each type explained with an example.
Renewable resources can be replaced naturally as fast as they are used, or do not run out, so they can be used again and again. Examples include solar, wind, hydroelectric and tidal energy, and timber if forests are replanted.
Non-renewable resources exist in a fixed amount and cannot be replaced once used, so they will eventually run out. Examples include fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas, and most minerals and metals.
Markers reward a clear definition of each type, the key idea of replacement versus a fixed amount, and a correct example of each.
CCEA Unit 2 (style)6 marksExplain why resource consumption is rising across the world.Show worked answer →
Six marks for explained reasons for rising consumption.
Population growth: the world's population is rising, so more people need food, water, energy and materials.
Rising wealth and development: as countries develop and incomes rise, people buy more goods, cars, appliances and energy, so each person consumes more.
Industrialisation and technology: growing industry and new technology, such as phones and computers, use large amounts of energy and raw materials.
Urbanisation: as more people live in cities, demand for energy, building materials, water and food concentrates and grows.
Markers reward several clear reasons, especially population growth and rising wealth, each linked to why total consumption rises.
Related dot points
- The environmental impacts of increasing resource consumption, including pollution, deforestation and the effects of energy use (AO1, AO2).
A focused CCEA GCSE Geography guide to the impact of increasing consumption. Covers how rising demand for resources damages the environment through pollution, deforestation, habitat loss and climate change, and why the impacts of energy use are especially serious.
- The meaning of sustainability and the strategies used to manage resources and the environment sustainably (AO1, AO2).
A focused CCEA GCSE Geography guide to sustainable management. Covers what sustainability means, renewable energy and recycling, sustainable forestry and farming, and individual, local and global actions, and how to evaluate which strategies work best.
- The natural and human causes of climate change, its global and local effects, and the strategies used to manage it (AO1, AO2).
A focused CCEA GCSE Geography guide to climate change. Covers the natural and human causes, the enhanced greenhouse effect, the global and local effects on people and the environment, and the mitigation and adaptation strategies used to respond.
- The meaning of development and the development gap, and the economic and social indicators used to measure it (AO1, AO3).
A focused CCEA GCSE Geography guide to the development gap and how development is measured. Covers what development means, the gap between richer and poorer countries, the economic and social indicators used, and why a combined index such as the HDI is more reliable than any single measure.
- The challenges of rapid urban growth in poorer countries, especially squatter settlements, and the strategies used to improve them (AO1, AO2).
A focused CCEA GCSE Geography guide to the challenges of cities in poorer countries. Covers why these cities grow so fast, the problems of squatter settlements and services, and the self-help, site-and-service and upgrading strategies used to improve them.
Sources & how we know this
- CCEA GCSE Geography specification — CCEA (2017)
- CCEA GCSE Geography (2017) Unit 2 past papers and mark schemes — CCEA (2024)