UNIT 1: Ecological Environment

Lesson 1: 2018: A Year to Step Up Climate Action

o WARM UP
As an individual living on and exploiting planet Earth, suggest ways you can start from your community
to curb the problem of pollution

o PREVIEW
Big numbers can drive change, so here is a huge one: 800,000. That is how many years it has been since
Earth’s atmosphere was as loaded with carbon dioxide as it is now. What new policies and market trends
should be adopted so that a low-carbon transition is achieved?

From the pace of climate action to saving our oceans, world leaders had plenty to say about the
environment during the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 23-26 of January, 2018 in Davos,
Switzerland.

o Read the article below, and then answer the questions that follow.

2018: A Year to Step Up Climate Action

1. As leader of the fastest growing major economy in the world - as well as the world’s largest democracy –
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi started the week by telling the Davos audience that climate change is the
greatest threat to civilization.

2. His comments were consistent with the 2018 edition of the Global Risks Report, released the week before
Davos – it showed that environmental concerns now dominate the most dangerous risks facing the world.
Worse, they are now affecting our health and prosperity. He was followed on the Davos stage by a week-long
call to action by government, business, civil society, and youth leaders.

3. Risalat Khan, a young climate campaigner said, “The previous generation of decision-makers have failed us,
have failed our generation. I’m not sugar coating this. I think you have already failed us through the inaction
from the previous generation. And the next three years, from 2018 to 2020, that’s the time that you have to
redeem yourselves. That is the message to the previous generation of decision makers.”

4. Greenpeace’s Jennifer Morgan issued a plea to every leader at Davos to “connect the dots” on climate change
and recognize that incremental change will not be enough. Leaders needed to catch up with their citizens,
customers, and employees in connecting the dots and increasing the pace and scale of climate action. Leading
the charge in setting new climate commitments, French President Emmanuel Macron announced France would
shut down all coal-fired power stations by 2021 and would make climate action one of five pillars in his plans to
reform the economy.

5. Anand Mahindra, Chairman of Mahindra Group, described efforts to address climate change as the century’s
biggest business opportunity. For his part, he announced that all Mahindra Group companies would commit to
the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change by setting science-based targets for reducing their
greenhouse gas emissions.

6. The head of global insurance giant AXA told participants that climate change had become a reality for the
insurance industry. Thomas Buberl said a global warming scenario of 3-4C degrees would not be insurable. As
a consequence, he announced that AXA would no longer insure coal projects and was also divesting from coal.
11U1Ecological Environment
7. Governor of Washington, Jay Inslee, said President Trump was out on his own on climate change. “There is
only one man in this parade. And no one has followed him in this regard.” He said that 15 states had joined the
United States Climate Alliance, which was committed to the Paris agreement and represented 40% of the US
economy.

8. To date, the world has relied on the oceans to mitigate climate change. They have absorbed 90% of the
excess heat humanity has produced and around 30% of our CO2 emissions.

9. An ambitious new global partnership to save life in the ocean was launched by the United Nations Secretary-
General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, Peter Thomson, and Isabella Lövin, Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden,
with funding from Marc Benioff and his wife Lynne Benioff through the Benioff Ocean Initiative.
The Friends of Ocean Action partnership will comprise leaders from science, technology, business and non-
governmental groups – around 40 of the world’s most committed and influential ocean activists and thought
leaders – who will leverage their collective network to scale and accelerate action to meet Sustainable
Development Goal 14, which is on oceans.

10. However, despite the commitments and strong words used throughout the week, there was also strong
agreement that the environmental challenges facing humanity and our planet are urgent and cannot be ignored.
We have a narrow window of opportunity to reverse course before it is too late and 2018 must be the year
leaders step up to meet the challenge.

11. The reality of climate change is starting to bite. More extreme weather conditions are no longer a prediction
– they are real and they are happening today. Action is needed to prevent the situation becoming much worse.
During 2018, there are several opportunities to raise awareness about the solutions, demonstrate progress and
ramp up ambition to do more – starting now.

12. This critical group of leaders is helping to drive progress in the real economy, by demonstrating the positive
benefits of clean growth to government leaders around the world. The Annual Meeting will also highlight the
role of other critical actors, including cities, states, civil society, technology pioneers and social entrepreneurs,
to show that, despite the enormous challenge that climate change poses, it is possible to dramatically cut
greenhouse gas emissions with effective and accelerated action, and push towards transformational – not
incremental – shifts to low-carbon solutions.

13. There is no doubt that 2018 will be a busy year for climate action. It will be interesting to look back this
time next year, to review, which states, cities and business have truly stepped up their climate action and
delivered the change that is needed. So make a date with climate action in 2018, and play your part in making it
a year of unprecedented progress.

QUESTIONS
A-Answer each of the following questions in 1- 3 complete sentences using your own words.
1. Based on paragraph 2, why have environmental problems become such a concern?
2. Based on paragraph 4, what does Jennifer Morgan mean by “connecting the dots”?
3. Is the title appropriate to the content of the article? Explain.
4. Based on paragraph 13, what two adjectives best describe the writer’s attitude towards climate change?
Justify.
5. Based on the indicated paragraphs, what does each of the following pronouns refer to?
a- they (Paragraph 2) __________________________________________
b- They (Paragraph 8) ____________________________________________

B-Indicate whether the following statements are TRUE or FALSE and then correct the false one(s).

1. --------- Past generations have tackled the problems of the environment successfully.
2. --------- Anand Mahindra showed non-cooperation during the Davos meeting.
3. --------- Oceans are believed to ease severe changes in climate.

C-Answer the following questions.

1. What is the thematic relationship between paragraphs 9 and 10? Explain.
2. What is the pattern of organization in paragraph 6? Explain.
3. What 3 types of evidence does the writer use to achieve credibility? Provide examples.
4. The following is a poor version of a one-sentence summary of paragraph 12.
Rewrite it correctly.Poor version: The leaders of the world are helping to drive progress in the real economy.
____________________________________________________________

D-The graph below shows the deviation in temperature between 1910 and 2000.
Examine the graph carefully, and then answer the question that follows.

- What do the deviations indicate about the change in temperature? Explain with evidence.
_____________________________________________________________________________

E-The reading selection has thirteen paragraphs 1 to 13. Each of the following extracts (A, B) is the
correct ending of ONE paragraph in the selection. Read extracts A and B and then choose from
paragraphs 1 to 13 the one that correctly fits with each extract.

Extract (A): He called on his peers in business to “step up” and align their business strategies with the Paris
Agreement.

Extract (B): But our oceans are under threat from plastics, over-fishing, global warming, and acidification.

F-Use contextual clues to figure out the meaning of each word in the boxes below. Then, fill in the blanks
with the correct words to complete the sentences that follow.

redeem (Paragraph 3) commit (Paragraph 5) divest (Paragraph 6) mitigate (Paragraph 8)

leverage (Paragraph 9)
1. The company wants to _______________ its brands more effectively.
2. You have three months to _______________ your winning lottery ticket.
3. The company has to _______________ eight of its twenty stores because of financial problems.
4. Emergency funds are being provided to help _______________ the effects of the disaster.
Productive Skills
Speaking Situation:
What have the leaders of the world achieved since the 2018 meeting? Do some research on the issue and present
your results to your classmates in a 2-minute presentation.

Writing Situation:
Choose ONE of the following prompts:

Prompt (A):
Read the following statements about the impact of human interference with the environment.
Population growth, economic progress, and urbanization are factors behind the destruction of flora (plant)
and fauna (animal) life. These factors demonstrate themselves in certain human activities (deforestation,
construction, war, industrialization, quarries, dumps, etc…) which victimize nature and even destroy it.

Write an essay in which you explain the above statements, shedding light on a Lebanese natural area
damaged by such human activities, and then suggest some recommendations to preserve our beautiful
environment. Develop your answer in a 250-300- word essay, using appropriate evidence, such as facts, and
examples from your daily life. Write unified, coherent, and properly sequenced paragraphs. See that, in your
introduction, you put your reader in the general atmosphere of your topic and clearly provide a thesis statement,
and that each of your body paragraphs starts with a topic sentence, which you back up with relevant supporting
details. Provide an outline.

Prompt (B):
Read the following statement from an article on pollution.
Citizens who victimize their nature will eventually become victims themselves.

Discuss the above statement, focusing on at least two negative effects of pollution (social, economic, health,
etc.), and then recommend two measures that can ensure a cleaner environment. Develop your answer in a 250-
300- word essay, using appropriate evidence, such as facts, and examples from your daily life. Write unified,
coherent, and properly sequenced paragraphs. See that, in your introduction, you put your reader in the general
atmosphere of your topic and clearly provide a thesis statement, and that each of your body paragraphs starts
with a topic sentence, which you back up with relevant supporting details. Provide an outline.