UPSC Prelims 2009 · General Studies
Question 117: Environment and Ecology
In the middle of the year 2008 the Parliament of which one of the following countries became the first in the world to enact a Climate Act by passing "The Climate Change Accountability Bill" ?
AnswerThe answer is (b).
The key names Canada, where an opposition bill, the Climate Change Accountability Bill, which set binding targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, was taken up by Parliament in 2008. Australia, Germany and Japan are not the countries the key links to this bill. Remember it as a Canadian private member's bill proposed by the New Democratic Party.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) Australia is not linked to this bill.
- (b) Right under the key: Canada's Parliament took up the Climate Change Accountability Bill.
- (c) Germany is not linked to this bill.
- (d) Japan is not linked to this bill.
Worth knowing: Canada's bill never became law, and the UK's Climate Change Act of November 2008 is usually called the world's first national climate act, though the UK is not among the options.
Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2009, General Studies. UPSC's own paper isn't online; the words are from a published compilation. The paper on upsc.gov.in.