UPSC Prelims 2025 · GS Paper I

Question 32: Environment and Ecology

Consider the following statements :

Statement IAt the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), India refrained from signing the ‘Declaration on Climate and Health’.
Statement IIThe COP28 Declaration on Climate and Health is a binding declaration; and if signed, it becomes mandatory to decarbonize health sector.
Statement IIIIf India’s health sector is decarbonized, the resilience of its health-care system may be compromised.

Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

aBoth Statement II and Statement III are correct and both of them explain Statement I

bBoth Statement II and Statement III are correct but only one of them explains Statement I

cOnly one of the Statements II and III is correct and that explains Statement I

dNeither Statement II nor Statement III is correct

AnswerThe answer is (c).

The COP28 Declaration on Climate and Health, launched in December 2023, was signed by well over a hundred countries, but India did not sign it, so Statement I is correct. Statement II is wrong: the declaration is a voluntary, non-binding political statement, so signing it would not make decarbonising the health sector mandatory. The key treats Statement III as correct and as the link to Statement I. So exactly one of II and III is correct and it explains I.

I. India did not sign the COP28 Declaration on Climate and Health.
II. The declaration is voluntary and non-binding; it does not make decarbonisation mandatory.
III. The key counts this as correct and as the reason linked to Statement I.

How you could have got this

No shortcut here: in a “how many” question, ruling out options doesn’t help. Every statement has to be judged.

This follows an unofficial answer: UPSC has not published its key for this year, and if that answer is wrong, so is this path.

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) Wrong: Statement II is incorrect, because the declaration is not binding.
(b) Wrong: Statement II is incorrect, so not both are correct.
(c) Right: only Statement III is correct, and it is the link to India's stance in Statement I.
(d) Wrong: the key counts Statement III as correct.

Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2025, General Studies Paper I, Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.