The environment comes up in almost every set of IELTS practice questions. Writing Task 2 asks who should solve environmental problems, governments or individuals, whether polluting industries should pay extra tax and whether bans in the name of the climate are justified. In Speaking Part 3, the examiner digs deeper: do people care more about nature than they used to, and what could change their habits? Most candidates have plenty of ideas. Itās the words that let them down.
The first trap is the word ecology itself. Many learners write the ecology in my city is bad when they mean the air and water are dirty. But in English, ecology is the science of how living things relate to their environment, or those relationships in a natural system. It doesnāt describe dirty air, so to a native speaker the ecology in my city is bad sounds vague. Is it the local science thatās struggling, or the wildlife in the parks? What you need is the environment, pollution or air quality. The topic has several more traps like this: the reason of pollution, the nature, affect on. Below are 26 collocations for writing about the environment precisely, the typical mistakes learners make with them and an example of how LetsWords gives feedback on a sentence you write yourself. Youāll find other topics in our IELTS vocabulary by topic guide.
The environment: words and collocations
Pollution
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| cause pollution | be the source of pollution | Heavy industry causes most of the pollution in this region. |
| poor air quality | dirty, polluted air | Poor air quality is linked to asthma and heart disease. |
| industrial waste | waste produced by factories and industry | Industrial waste must be treated before it reaches rivers. |
| dump toxic waste | get rid of poisonous waste illegally or carelessly | Some factories still dump toxic waste into local rivers. |
| contaminate drinking water | make drinking water unsafe | Chemicals from farms can contaminate drinking water. |
| plastic waste | discarded plastic | Much of the plastic waste we produce ends up in the ocean. |
Climate and energy
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| climate change | long-term change in the Earthās climate | Climate change is already affecting crop yields in many countries. |
| greenhouse gas emissions | gases released into the air that trap heat | Transport and energy account for a large share of greenhouse gas emissions. |
| cut emissions | reduce emissions | Countries have promised to cut emissions, but progress is slow. |
| burn fossil fuels | use coal, oil and gas for energy | As long as we burn fossil fuels, global temperatures will keep rising. |
| phase out | gradually stop using something | Several countries plan to phase out coal power within a decade. |
| renewable energy | energy from sources that donāt run out, such as sun and wind | Investment in renewable energy has grown rapidly in recent years. |
| extreme weather events | floods, heatwaves, storms and droughts | Floods and heatwaves are examples of extreme weather events. |
| carbon footprint | the amount of carbon a person or activity produces | Flying less is one of the quickest ways to reduce your carbon footprint. |
Nature and resources
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| natural resources | materials from nature, such as water, wood and minerals | We are using natural resources faster than they can be replaced. |
| deplete resources | use resources up | Intensive farming depletes resources such as groundwater and fertile soil. |
| endangered species | animals or plants at risk of dying out | Tigers remain an endangered species despite decades of protection. |
| natural habitats | the places where animals and plants naturally live | Road building destroys natural habitats and isolates animal populations. |
| large-scale deforestation | cutting down forests over huge areas | Large-scale deforestation releases huge amounts of carbon. |
| loss of biodiversity | a fall in the variety of living things | The loss of biodiversity threatens food production itself. |
Solutions
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| take action on | do something to deal with a problem | Governments must take action on climate change now, not in twenty years. |
| raise awareness of | make people know and care about a problem | School campaigns can raise awareness of plastic waste. |
| introduce stricter regulations | bring in tougher rules | The state should introduce stricter regulations on factory emissions. |
| recycle household waste | process rubbish from homes so it can be used again | Most residents are willing to recycle household waste if it is convenient. |
| ban single-use plastics | make throwaway plastic items illegal | Several countries have banned single-use plastics such as straws. |
| environmentally friendly | not harmful to the environment | Environmentally friendly products are often more expensive. |
Youāll find the linking words that connect these arguments in an essay in our guide to IELTS Writing vocabulary.
Common mistakes
The ecology in big cities is getting worse every year.
Air quality in big cities is getting worse every year. / Big cities are becoming more polluted every year.
Ecology is a science or a natural system, not the quality of the air. When you mean the state of the environment, choose the environment, pollution or air quality, depending on what exactly has got worse.
Cars are the main reason of air pollution in big cities.
Cars are the main cause of air pollution in big cities. / Cars are the main reason for air pollution in big cities.
Reason takes for: the reason for the problem. When you name the source of pollution, the main cause of is even more precise, and it matches the verb from the table: cars cause pollution.
We must protect the nature.
We must protect nature.
When it means the natural world, nature takes no article. The nature of something means its character: the nature of the problem.
Global warming affects on the weather.
Global warming affects the weather. / Global warming has an effect on the weather.
Affect takes no preposition: affect the weather. The nouns take on: an effect on, an impact on. The affect vs effect exercise covers this pair in detail.
How LetsWords explains mistakes like these
Mistakes like these are almost invisible to the person who makes them: the reason of and the nature feel like normal English. Thatās why LetsWords catches them in sentences you write yourself. Hereās what one task looks like.
Youāre reviewing cut emissions. LetsWords shows you a hint in your native language meaning āreduce emissionsā. You recall the English expression and write a sentence about climate policy:
Our country must cut greenhouse gases emissions on 50 percent until 2035.
The feedback explains three mistakes:
- greenhouse gases emissions ā greenhouse gas emissions: in this phrase, gas stays singular because it describes emissions;
- on 50 percent ā by 50 percent: the size of an increase or decrease takes by;
- until 2035 ā by 2035: for a deadline, use by. Until means an action continues up to that date, not that itās completed by then.
Our country must cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2035.
LetsWords explains each correction in your native language: Russian, Korean or Vietnamese. A few days later, the expression comes back in review, and you use it in a new situation, for example in an essay about transport in big cities. Thatās how a collocation from a list becomes one you recall from memory and write without mistakes.
Start practising with feedback on your mistakes
When you sign up, you choose IELTS as your goal and your level, and LetsWords picks the right practice for you. You can try the feedback before you pay.
Using these collocations in Writing Task 2
An exam-style task:
Some people argue that governments should spend money on adapting to climate change, for example by building flood defences, rather than trying to prevent it. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
A paragraph stating the writerās position:
Although adaptation is necessary, I believe prevention should remain the priority. Flood defences may protect one coastal city for several decades, but they do nothing to slow climate change itself, and their cost will keep rising as extreme weather events become more frequent. By contrast, money spent on renewable energy addresses the cause of the problem. If governments cut emissions and phase out coal and oil, they reduce the risk for every region, not only for the one that can afford a sea wall. Prevention also protects natural habitats that cannot be defended by concrete, so it benefits wildlife as well as people.
Why the paragraph works. The position comes in the first sentence, and each collocation then carries a separate argument: extreme weather events explains why adaptation keeps getting more expensive, renewable energy and cut emissions show why prevention tackles the cause, and natural habitats names what a sea wall canāt save. There isnāt a single green buzzword added for decoration. For Lexical Resource, what matters is that the collocations appear in their usual form: cut emissions, not decrease emissions number. For Task Response, the idea moves from the claim to its consequences.
Using them in Speaking
A Part 3 question: Do people care more about the environment than they did in the past?
Iād say theyāre certainly more aware of it. Campaigns have done a lot to raise awareness of plastic waste, and many people now try to reduce their carbon footprint by flying less or recycling. But awareness doesnāt always lead to action. Plenty of people still choose the cheapest option rather than the most environmentally friendly one, so I think price matters more than good intentions.
The answer separates awareness from behaviour: thatās the kind of developed opinion Part 3 is looking for. The collocations from the tables are woven into natural speech, with no memorised phrases.
Practise for free
- affect vs effect: the verb and the noun;
- have an impact: have a strong effect;
- raise awareness: draw attention to a problem;
- take action: act to deal with a problem;
- take steps: take measures;
- cut down on: use or consume less;
- throw away: get rid of something.
From the list to real use
Spotting the nature or the ecology is bad as mistakes on this page is easy. Not writing them yourself in the exam, under time pressure, is harder. Move from the list to real use with LetsWords: practise with the IELTS collection for your level and add collocations from this page to a collection, for example cause pollution or recycle household waste. You recall each expression from its meaning, write a sentence with it, and LetsWords points out the mistake and explains it in your native language (Russian, Korean or Vietnamese), while spaced repetition brings the expression back until it feels natural. Then test the vocabulary in a full text: the IELTS Writing section has Task 2 questions on the environment, about household waste, recycling, plastic and laws against pollution, and a full answer gets detailed feedback on all four criteria, tied to what you wrote. If a whole essay still feels like too much, start with criterion practice on a short passage. When you sign up, you answer a few questions about your goal and level, and LetsWords picks your practice; you can try the feedback before you pay. For vocabulary on other topics, see our IELTS vocabulary by topic.