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(a) (i) Definition: The elderly dependency ratio is the ratio of dependents aged 65 and over to the working-age population (typically defined as those aged 15-64), expressed as a percentage or ratio.

(a) (ii) Calculation:
Total Dependency Ratio (TDR) = \(\frac{\% \text{ under 15} + \% \text{ over 65}}{\% \text{ working age 15-64}} \times 100\)
In 2000: Under 15 = 28%, Over 65 = 7%, Working age = \(100 - (28+7) = 65\)%. TDR = \(\frac{35}{65} \times 100 = 53.85\)%.
In 2020: Under 15 = 16%, Over 65 = 18%, Working age = \(100 - (16+18) = 66\)%. TDR = \(\frac{34}{66} \times 100 = 51.52\)%.
Change: \(51.52\% - 53.85\% = -2.33\)% (or a decrease of 2.33 percentage points).

(b) Challenges (any two explained):
1. Increased healthcare costs and pressure on elderly care facilities due to a higher proportion of elderly population (18% in 2020 vs 7% in 2000).
2. Potential labor shortages in the future due to a shrinking younger demographic cohort (under 15 dropped from 28% to 16%), leading to lower economic productivity or tax revenue.
3. Increased fiscal pressure on public pension systems as a relatively smaller working-age population supports a growing base of retirees.

(c) Pro-natalist Policy: Any valid policy such as cash incentives/child bonuses, heavily subsidized childcare facilities, extended parental leave policies, or tax breaks for larger families, which reduces the financial burden of raising children and encourages parents to have more children.

(a) (i)
• Award 1 mark for mentioning the ratio of elderly/dependents aged 65+ to the working population.
• Award 1 mark for specifying the correct age range of the working-age population (15-64).

(a) (ii)
• Award 1 mark for showing correct working/formula for both years: Year 2000 TDR (~53.85%) and Year 2020 TDR (~51.52%).
• Award 1 mark for the correct final difference (accept -2.3 to -2.4 percentage point change).

(b)
• Award 1 mark for identifying a socio-economic challenge and 1 mark for explaining how it relates to the changing demographic data, up to a maximum of 4 marks.
• Acceptable challenges include: labor force shortages, increased tax burdens, increased healthcare demand, pension fund unsustainability.

(c)
• Award 1 mark for outlining a specific pro-natalist policy (e.g., parental leave, cash bonuses).
• Award 1 mark for explaining how this policy works to increase the birth rate.

(a) Relationship: There is an inverse/negative relationship between emissions and vulnerability. The high-income country (Country A) produces the highest per capita emissions (15.4 tonnes) but has the lowest vulnerability (18/100). Conversely, the low-income country (Country C) and SIDS (Country D) produce very low emissions (0.8 and 1.5 tonnes) but have high vulnerability scores (78 and 85/100 respectively).

(b) Factors contributing to SIDS vulnerability:
• Physical factor: Low-lying coastal topography and small landmass make SIDS highly exposed to sea-level rise, coastal erosion, and intense tropical storms, leaving no safe inland areas to retreat to (2 marks).
• Economic factor: Small economies with limited financial capacity and high reliance on vulnerable sectors (e.g., tourism) lack the capital to invest in expensive coastal defenses, early warning systems, or resilient infrastructure (2 marks).

(c) Contrast of mitigation vs adaptation:
• Mitigation: Focuses on addressing the root causes of climate change by reducing GHG emissions or enhancing carbon sinks. Example: Transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources like wind or solar power (2 marks).
• Adaptation: Focuses on managing the impacts and consequences of climate change to reduce harm. Example: Building sea walls or restoring coastal mangrove forests to prevent storm surge flooding (2 marks).

(a)
• Award 1 mark for identifying the inverse relationship (high emissions correlate with low vulnerability, and vice versa).
• Award 1 mark for supporting this with specific data points from the table (contrasting Country A with Country C or D).

(b)
• Award 1 mark for identifying a valid physical factor (e.g., low-lying terrain, island isolation) and 1 mark for explaining how it drives high vulnerability to climate impacts.
• Award 1 mark for identifying a valid economic factor (e.g., lack of capital, tourism dependence) and 1 mark for explaining how it limits adaptive capacity.

(c)
• Award 1 mark for defining mitigation (reducing causes/GHGs) and 1 mark for a relevant example.
• Award 1 mark for defining adaptation (coping with/minimizing impacts) and 1 mark for a relevant example.

(a) Definition and Identification:
• Ecological Footprint: The theoretical area of land and water (measured in global hectares, gha) required to support a given population at its current level of consumption and to absorb its waste (1 mark).
• Ecological Deficit: Regions where Ecological Footprint exceeds Biocapacity. Based on the data, Region X (deficit of 4.7 gha) and Region Z (deficit of 0.3 gha) are in deficit (1 mark).

(b) Embedded water and water security:
Virtual water (or embedded water) is the volume of water used in the production of agricultural or industrial goods. When a water-scarce nation imports crops like wheat or meat, it effectively imports the large volume of water used to grow them. This "outsources" the heavy water footprint of agriculture to the producing nation, allowing the importing nation to conserve its scarce local freshwater resources for critical domestic and industrial uses, thereby improving domestic water security (4 marks).

(c) Middle-class growth and energy pressure:
• Reason 1: Increased ownership of domestic electrical appliances (e.g., air conditioning, refrigerators, personal computers) as disposable incomes rise, driving higher per capita electricity consumption (2 marks).
• Reason 2: Shift toward private transport and personal vehicle ownership (and increased air travel/tourism) which significantly escalates demand for liquid fossil fuels (petroleum) or grid electricity (2 marks).

(a)
• Award 1 mark for a complete definition of ecological footprint (must mention both resource consumption and waste absorption).
• Award 1 mark for correctly identifying Region X and Region Z as having an ecological deficit.

(b)
• Award 1 mark for explaining what virtual/embedded water is (water used in production).
• Award 1 mark for linking imports of high-water goods (like crops/beef) to the reduction of domestic water extraction.
• Award 2 marks for a detailed explanation of how this conservation of domestic reserves improves overall water security/resilience for the importing nation.

(c)
• Award 1 mark for identifying a valid reason related to middle-class consumption (e.g., appliance ownership, increased transport/private cars, higher consumption of energy-intensive manufactured goods).
• Award 1 mark for explaining how this specific consumption behavior directly increases the demand or pressure on global energy infrastructure. Repeat for the second reason (2 marks + 2 marks).