2016 GS Paper I, all questions

UPSC Prelims 2016 · GS Paper I

Question 97: Environment and Ecology

With reference to the Agreement at the UNFCCC Meeting in Paris in 2015, which of the following statements is/are correct?

  1. 1.The Agreement was signed by all the member countries of the UN and it will go into effect in 2017.
  2. 2.The Agreement aims to limit the greenhouse gas emissions so that the rise in average global temperature by the end of this century does not exceed 2 °C or even 1·5 °C above pre-industrial levels.
  3. 3.Developed countries acknowledged their historical responsibility in global warming and committed to donate $ 1000 billion a year from 2020 to help developing countries to cope with climate change.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

a1 and 3 only
b2 only
c2 and 3 only
d1, 2 and 3

AnswerUPSC’s answer is (b).

The Paris Agreement of 2015 aims to hold the rise in average global temperature well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees, so statement 2 is correct. It was adopted in December 2015, opened for signature in April 2016 and entered into force on 4 November 2016, not 2017. Developed countries committed to mobilise 100 billion dollars a year from 2020, not 1,000 billion.

  • 1. It entered into force on 4 November 2016, not 2017, and was not signed by every UN member at adoption.
  • 2. The goal is to keep warming below 2 degrees Celsius, pursuing 1.5 degrees.
  • 3. The commitment is 100 billion dollars a year from 2020, not 1,000 billion.

How you could have got this

  1. If you were sure statement 3 is not correct, (a), (c) and (d) go: each of them includes 3.

    What you needed to know: The commitment is 100 billion dollars a year from 2020, not 1,000 billion.

Only (b) is left. You didn’t need statements 1 or 2.

Which options go is worked out from UPSC’s key and the options, not by a model.

Why each option is right or wrong
  • (a) Statements 1 and 3 are both wrong.
  • (b) Right: only the temperature goal in statement 2 is correct.
  • (c) Statement 3 is wrong: the figure is 100 billion dollars a year.
  • (d) Statements 1 and 3 are wrong, so 'all three' fails.

Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2016, General Studies Paper I, Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.