Global Environmental and Social Issues Notes | Leaving Cert Spanish

Environmental and social issues appear right across Leaving Certificate Higher Level Spanish, from reading and listening comprehensions to the opinion piece, formal letter, and oral exam. This note covers the core vocabulary for climate action, gender equality, volunteering, migration, and crime. It also sets out the grammar you need to defend an opinion: the subjunctive mood after value judgements, the conditional for proposing solutions, hypothetical si clauses, and the passive voice for reporting events.

Reading and Listening: Essential Topic Vocabulary

Reading and listening make up half the total marks at Higher Level (30% reading, 20% listening). Comprehension questions on current affairs often hinge on specific vocabulary. Unless an exam question explicitly tells you otherwise, always answer reading and listening questions in English (or Irish). When a question asks for full details, provide every piece of factual information mentioned in that part of the text, including numbers, time limits, and reasons.

Core Comprehension Lexis

Spanish	English
el medio ambiente / medioambiental	the environment / environmental
la contaminación (atmosférica / del agua)	(air / water) pollution
reciclar / el reciclaje	to recycle / recycling
los plásticos de un solo uso	single-use plastics
la huella de carbono	carbon footprint
las especies en peligro de extinción	endangered species
la autoestima	self-esteem
el acoso escolar / el ciberacoso	school bullying / cyberbullying
las redes sociales	social media
socializarse / relacionarse	to socialise / to mix with people
el juego limpio	fair play
sin recursos / sin medios	without resources, poor
los barrios pobres / marginales	poor / deprived areas
la pobreza / el hambre (f.)	poverty / hunger
las personas sin hogar	homeless people
el Tercer Mundo / los países en vías de desarrollo	the Third World / developing countries
una ONG (organización no gubernamental)	an NGO, charity
sin ánimo de lucro	non-profit
recaudar fondos	to raise funds
donar / una donación	to donate / a donation
los refugiados / los solicitantes de asilo	refugees / asylum seekers
las minorías étnicas	ethnic minorities
tener demasiado tiempo libre	to have too much free time

The Environment: Climate Crises and Civic Solutions

Exam tasks about the environment usually ask you to identify a problem and propose practical civic habits. Move beyond vague phrasing like hacer cosas buenas by using precise verbs and nouns.

Environmental Vocabulary

Spanish	English
el calentamiento global	global warming
el cambio climático	climate change
el efecto invernadero	greenhouse effect
la deforestación / la tala indiscriminada	deforestation / indiscriminate logging
la sequía	drought
las inundaciones	floods
los combustibles fósiles	fossil fuels
las energías renovables	renewable energies
la sobreexplotación de recursos	overexploitation of resources
el desarrollo sostenible	sustainable development
el consumismo	consumerism
las mareas negras	oil spills
los residuos / la basura	waste / rubbish

Civic Habits: Ahorrar vs Salvar

English uses the verb 'save' for several different ideas, which causes confusion. In Spanish, you must separate them:

Ahorrar: Use this when economising, conserving resources, or saving money (ahorrar agua, ahorrar energía, ahorrar electricidad).
Salvar: Use this when rescuing a life or saving the planet from destruction (salvar el planeta, salvar a los animales en peligro).

A hand closes a tap to conserve water; another helps an animal out of danger.

Practical habits to use in your writing and speaking:

Apagar la luz y desenchufar los aparatos: Debemos apagar las luces al salir de una habitación y desenchufar los aparatos eléctricos para no malgastar electricidad. (We must turn off lights when leaving a room and unplug electrical appliances to avoid wasting electricity.)
Cerrar el grifo: Es imprescindible cerrar el grifo mientras nos lavamos los dientes. (It is essential to turn off the tap while brushing our teeth.)
Consumir productos de temporada: Comprar alimentos locales y de temporada reduce la huella de carbono. (Buying local, seasonal food reduces our carbon footprint.)
Fomentar el transporte público: El gobierno debe fomentar el transporte público para aliviar los atascos. (The government must promote public transport to ease traffic jams.)

Social Equality, the Workplace, and Volunteering

Social justice, workplace parity, and community solidarity are common themes in oral discussions and written tasks.

Gender Equality and Work

Spanish	English
la igualdad de género	gender equality
la desigualdad	inequality
la brecha salarial (de género)	the (gender) pay gap
el mundo laboral	the working world
la conciliación laboral y familiar	work-life balance
la corresponsabilidad	shared domestic/caring responsibility
los puestos directivos / de poder	management / executive posts
los estereotipos sexistas / machistas	sexist stereotypes
los derechos humanos	human rights

Useful Idiomatic Phrases

Romper el techo de cristal: To break the glass ceiling (Las mujeres aún encuentran barreras invisibles para romper el techo de cristal en puestos directivos.)
Queda mucho camino por recorrer: There is still a long way to go (A pesar de los avances conseguidos, queda mucho camino por recorrer para lograr la igualdad salarial.)
Avanzar con paso firme: To make steady progress (Debemos avanzar con paso firme hacia una sociedad más justa e inclusiva.)

Volunteering and Community Action

El voluntariado: Volunteering (Hacer voluntariado permite a los jóvenes desarrollar empatía y ayudar a los más necesitados.)
Prestar ayuda: To give help (Muchos voluntarios prestan ayuda a las personas sin hogar durante el invierno.)
Los colectivos marginados: Marginalised groups (Es vital apoyar a los colectivos marginados frente a la exclusión social.)

Migration, Integration, and Cultural Diversity

Discussions on migration require clarity about whether people are leaving a country or arriving in one.

One person moves from a country of origin to a host country, emigrating from the first and immigrating into the second.

Emigrar or Inmigrar?

Confusing these two verbs is a common slip in written essays and reading comprehensions:

Emigrar (la emigración / el emigrante): To leave one's home country to live abroad. Durante las crisis económicas, muchos jóvenes con talento emigran al extranjero en busca de trabajo. (During economic crises, many talented young people emigrate abroad in search of work.)
Inmigrar (la inmigración / el inmigrante): To enter and settle into a new host country. Miles de personas inmigran a Europa cada año con la esperanza de mejorar su calidad de vida. (Thousands of people immigrate to Europe each year hoping to improve their quality of life.)

Debating Integration

Spanish	English
el país receptor / de acogida	host country
la barrera lingüística	language barrier
las condiciones laborales precarias	precarious / insecure working conditions
el choque cultural	culture shock
la fuga de cerebros	brain drain (emigration of qualified workers)
la xenofobia y el racismo	xenophobia and racism
una sociedad multicultural	a multicultural society
la convivencia pacífica	peaceful coexistence
enriquecer la cultura	to enrich culture (La diversidad cultural enriquece nuestra comunidad.)
integrarse en la sociedad	to integrate into society

Crime, Security, and Reporting Incidents

Crime and public safety feature in current affairs texts, emergency listening extracts, and oral role-plays. The syllabus requires you to be able to give an account of a theft, accident, or assault.

Crime and Security Vocabulary

Spanish	English
el delito / el crimen	crime, offence / serious crime (e.g. murder)
la delincuencia (juvenil)	(juvenile) delinquency, crime
el/la delincuente	criminal, offender
el robo / robar	theft, robbery / to steal, rob
el ladrón / la ladrona	thief
el atraco / atracar	mugging, hold-up / to mug, hold up
el hurto	petty theft, pickpocketing
la estafa / estafar	scam, fraud / to swindle
el tráfico de drogas / el narcotráfico	drug trafficking
la violencia de género	gender-based violence
el acoso / el ciberacoso	harassment, bullying / cyberbullying
la víctima	victim (always feminine grammatically, even for a male victim)
el/la testigo	witness
denunciar / poner una denuncia	to report a crime to the police
detener / arrestar	to arrest
la comisaría	police station
la cárcel / la prisión	prison
condenar a alguien a (cinco años de cárcel)	to sentence someone to (five years in prison)
la pena de muerte	the death penalty
la seguridad ciudadana	public safety

Reporting What Happened: Passive Voice and Se

When recounting incidents in writing or oral exams, you have three clear grammatical tools:

1. The passive with ser (ser + past participle): Use this to focus on the person or thing affected. The participle agrees in gender and number with the subject like an adjective.

El ladrón fue detenido por la policía. (The thief was arrested by the police.)
Las víctimas fueron trasladadas al hospital. (The victims were transferred to hospital.)
Un ciclista ha sido atropellado por un camión. (A cyclist has been knocked down by a lorry.)

2. Passive se: Standard in news items when the person carrying out the action is unstated. The verb agrees with the noun that follows.

Se robó un coche anoche.* (A car was stolen last night.)
Se robaron dos coches anoche.* (Two cars were stolen last night.)

One car accompanies Se robó un coche; two cars accompany Se robaron dos coches. Links connect each verb to its agreeing noun phrase.

3. Third-person plural without a subject: Natural Spanish for everyday occurrences where English says 'I had my phone stolen' or 'someone stole my phone'. Do not translate 'I was robbed' as Fui robado. Use:

Me robaron la cartera en el autobús.* (My wallet was stolen on the bus.)
Me han robado el móvil.* (My phone has been stolen.)

Grammar for Opinions: Subjunctive, Debería, and Si Clauses

To achieve high language marks, you must show examiner-tested grammatical structures instead of relying exclusively on the present indicative.

1. Impersonal Value Judgements vs Facts

Impersonal phrases conveying urgency, necessity, or subjective assessment require the present subjunctive when followed by que.
Expressions stating objective truth or fact take the indicative when affirmative.

Expression Type	Trigger Expression	Mood	Example Sentence
Value / Urgency	Es urgente que...<br>Es necesario que...<br>Es injusto que...	Subjunctive	Es urgente que los gobiernos tomen medidas.<br>Es injusto que las mujeres cobren menos.
Certainty / Fact	Es verdad que...<br>Es obvio que...<br>Es indudable que...	Indicative	Es verdad que el clima cambia con rapidez.<br>Es obvio que hay mucha delincuencia.

Note on Negation: When an expression of certainty is negated, it expresses doubt and flips to the subjunctive: No es verdad que los jóvenes seamos indiferentes.

2. Giving an Opinion: Creo que vs No creo que

Affirmative belief states a direct viewpoint and takes the indicative: Creo que la educación es la solución. (I believe that education is the solution.)
Negated belief or doubt introduces uncertainty and takes the subjunctive: No creo que los políticos hagan lo suficiente. (I do not believe politicians are doing enough.) / Dudo que la situación mejore pronto. (I doubt the situation will improve soon.)

3. More Ways to Give and Qualify an Opinion

Indicative (certainty): Estoy convencido/a de que el reciclaje es imprescindible. (I am convinced that recycling is essential.) / Reconozco que hemos avanzado, pero... (I admit that we have made progress, but...)
Subjunctive (possibility or doubt): Puede que la situación cambie en el futuro. (The situation may change in the future.) / No me fío de que las empresas cumplan las normas. (I do not trust companies to comply with the regulations.)
Summarising and clarifying: Si te entiendo bien, quieres decir que... (If I understand you correctly, you mean that...) / En resumen... (In short...)

4. Expressing Obligation with Debería

Use the conditional of deber to state what authorities or individuals ought to do:

El gobierno debería penalizar a las fábricas que contaminan los ríos. (The government should penalise factories that pollute rivers.)
Deberíamos compartir las tareas domésticas en casa. (We should share household chores at home.)

5. Proposing Solutions with Si Clauses

Form hypothetical solutions using: Si + imperfect subjunctive, then conditional. To form the imperfect subjunctive: take the 3rd person plural preterite (ellos form), drop -ron, and add -ra (utilizaron → utilizara; tuvieron → tuviera; hubo/hubieron → hubiera).

Si la gente utilizara el transporte público, disminuiría la contaminación. (If people used public transport, pollution would decrease.)
Si el gobierno invirtiera más dinero en energías limpias, protegeríamos el medio ambiente. (If the government invested more money in clean energy, we would protect the environment.)

Exam Strategy: Opinion Pieces, Letters, and the Oral Exam

Always check your exam paper for the specific mark breakdown, required word count, and task instructions, as formats and options can vary.

The Opinion Piece

Plan your response around three main parts: an opening stance, two developed arguments, and a short conclusion.
If the question is linked to a reading passage, never copy phrases directly from the text. Direct quotations do not earn language marks. Rephrase the idea in your own words. For example, if the text says pequeñas acciones pueden cambiar el mundo, write creo que cada gesto cuenta or hasta la acción más sencilla marca la diferencia.
Write to the word count given on the paper. It has varied (about 75 words in 2017, 80–100 in 2021). Keep your arguments sharp and focused.

The Letter or Email: Make and Develop Five Points

When a letter or email task provides prompt points, the marking scheme rewards making five relevant points and developing each one. Developing a point means stating your argument and immediately supporting it with a reason, an example, or a consequence (typically two to three sentences per point). A single line like Los jóvenes reciclan earns minimal credit.

Model Developed Point (Prompt: Many animal species are in danger of extinction): Por otra parte, me preocupa muchísimo que tantas especies animales estén en peligro de extinción. La destrucción de su hábitat natural y la contaminación de los océanos son las causas principales. Si no protegemos la biodiversidad ahora, las futuras generaciones nunca verán animales como el lince ibérico.

Why it scores well: The point is clearly stated, supported by causes (habitat loss, ocean pollution), followed by a consequence using a si clause, and employs the subjunctive after me preocupa que (estén).

Layout Conventions: Set out your letter correctly so it reads like authentic correspondence, but remember that layout does not replace developed points:

Date: Dublín, a 15 de marzo de 2027
Greeting: Estimado/a Director/a:
Opening statement of purpose: Le escribo esta carta para expresar mi opinión sobre...
Sign-off: Le agradezco de antemano su atención.
Valediction: Le saluda atentamente, followed by your signature.

Oral Exam: General Conversation

The Leaving Certificate Spanish oral lasts 15 minutes and consists of a general conversation alongside an oral role-play. Expect questions on environmental habits, equality, and local current affairs:

¿Qué haces tú en casa para cuidar el medio ambiente? (En casa siempre apagamos las luces, cerramos el grifo y reciclamos los envases de plástico.)
¿Crees que existe una verdadera igualdad entre hombres y mujeres? (Pienso que hemos mejorado bastante, pero aún existe la brecha salarial y pocas mujeres dirigen grandes empresas.)
¿Crees que hay mucha emigración en Irlanda hoy en día? (Sí, bastantes jóvenes titulados emigran a Australia o a Canadá en busca de salarios más altos y una mejor calidad de vida.)
¿Te sientes seguro/a en tu barrio o hay mucha delincuencia? (Mi barrio es tranquilo, aunque a veces se cometen hurtos menores. Creo que una mayor presencia policial mejoraría la seguridad ciudadana.)

Key terms

el calentamiento global: Global warming. Example: El calentamiento global provoca el deshielo de los polos.
el efecto invernadero: The greenhouse effect. Example: Los gases contaminantes aumentan el efecto invernadero.
la sequía: Drought. Example: La sequía prolongada destruye los cultivos en el campo.
la brecha salarial (de género): The (gender) pay gap. Example: Es necesario erradicar la brecha salarial de género en las empresas.
el techo de cristal: The glass ceiling; invisible barriers to career progression. Example: Muchas mujeres luchan por romper el techo de cristal.
la corresponsabilidad: Shared domestic and caring responsibility. Example: La corresponsabilidad en el hogar favorece una convivencia equilibrada.
el país receptor: Host country for immigrants. Example: España es un país receptor clave dentro de Europa.
la fuga de cerebros: Brain drain; emigration of educated workers. Example: La fuga de cerebros priva al país de jóvenes investigadores.
el hurto: Petty theft or pickpocketing. Example: El hurto de carteras ocurre con frecuencia en el transporte público.
la delincuencia juvenil: Youth crime. Example: La delincuencia juvenil suele relacionarse con la falta de oportunidades laborales.
la víctima: Victim (always grammatically feminine). Example: La víctima denunció el atraco en la comisaría.
el voluntariado: Volunteering. Example: Hacer un voluntariado enseña el valor de la solidaridad.

Check yourself

Which Spanish verb should you use for conserving electricity, and which verb is used for rescuing an endangered species?
Use 'ahorrar' for conserving electricity ('ahorrar electricidad') and 'salvar' for rescuing an endangered species ('salvar una especie').
Translate into natural Spanish: 'My bag was stolen on the train.'
'Me robaron el bolso en el tren' or 'Me han robado el bolso en el tren'.
Why does 'Creo que el reciclaje es útil' take the indicative, whereas 'No creo que el reciclaje sea inútil' takes the subjunctive?
'Creo que' asserts a belief as a fact and takes the indicative, while 'No creo que' denies that certainty, introducing doubt which triggers the subjunctive mood.
What does developing a point mean when writing an exam letter or email based on prompts?
It means stating the point clearly in Spanish and then expanding it with a reason, a concrete example, or a consequence over two to three sentences.
How do you form the imperfect subjunctive verb in a hypothetical si clause like 'Si la gente (usar) el transporte público'?
Take the 3rd person plural preterite ('usaron'), drop '-ron', and add '-ra' to give 'usara': 'Si la gente usara el transporte público...'.

Global Environmental and Social Issues