IELTS Writing Task 2 — Environment: a Band 9 sample answer

It is often argued that the scale of environmental damage places it beyond the influence of any single person. While I accept that governments and corporations hold the greatest responsibility, I firmly believe that collective individual action remains indispensable.

Those who doubt the value of personal effort point to the sheer magnitude of the problem. Climate change, deforestation and ocean pollution are driven largely by industrial activity and national energy policy, which no household can directly control. From this perspective, asking individuals to recycle or cycle to work can seem trivial when a single power station emits more carbon in a day than a person does in a lifetime. There is also a fairness argument: it is unreasonable to shift the burden onto ordinary citizens while the largest polluters continue largely unchecked.

Nevertheless, I find the opposing view more persuasive, because large-scale change ultimately depends on millions of small decisions. Consumer demand shapes what companies produce; when enough people choose plant-based food or refuse single-use plastic, markets and governments are forced to respond. Sweden, for instance, recycles the vast majority of its household waste precisely because citizens treat it as a social norm, which in turn made ambitious national policy politically possible.

In conclusion, although the responsibility of states and industry should not be underestimated, individuals are not powerless bystanders. Their everyday choices, multiplied across society, create both the market pressure and the political will needed for genuine environmental progress.