UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

Climate adaptation focuses on modifying systems and behaviours to cope with the effects of climate change. Examples include building flood defences,changing crop varieties and improving health systems. The stem clearly describes adjustment to impacts,so adaptation is the correct term.

Option A:
Mitigation involves actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or enhance sinks and addresses the causes rather than the consequences of climate change. While complementary,it is conceptually distinct from the impact focused measures in the question.

Option B:
Adaptation aims to reduce vulnerability and increase resilience of societies and ecosystems. It may also enable them to benefit from new opportunities such as longer growing seasons in some regions. This emphasis on adjustment matches the stem.

Option C:
Compensation would involve payments or assistance for losses and damages due to climate change. It is a debated issue in climate negotiations but is not the term for proactive adjustment measures.

Option D:
Geoengineering refers to deliberate large scale interventions in the climate system, such as solar radiation management. It goes far beyond local or sectoral adjustments and does not fit the description in the question.

The Paris Agreement articulates a long-term global temperature goal to guide collective climate action. Parties agreed to hold the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C. This goal reflects scientific assessments of thresholds beyond which climate impacts become increasingly dangerous. Hence, the statement in option A correctly summarises the central temperature goal of the agreement.

Option A:
Option A is correct because it captures both parts of the goal: the “well below 2°C” limit and the aspirational 1.5°C target. It aligns with the language negotiated and adopted by the parties.

Option B:
Option B is incorrect since the agreement cannot guarantee the absence of heat waves; it can only influence their likelihood by reducing emissions. Extreme events will still occur in a warming climate.

Option C:
Option C is incorrect because setting zero emissions by 2020 was neither realistic nor a stated objective. The agreement envisions a longer-term transition towards net-zero in the second half of the century.

Option D:
Option D is incorrect since the Paris framework expects contributions from all countries, though differentiated by national circumstances. It does not allow some countries to increase emissions indefinitely without responsibility.

Effective climate strategies combine actions to limit emissions with efforts to adapt to inevitable impacts. Improving efficiency reduces energy demand, while scaling up renewables decarbonises supply. At the same time, investing in resilient infrastructure and mainstreaming adaptation into agriculture, water, health and urban planning helps societies cope with changing climate risks. Together these measures reflect an integrated approach consistent with international guidance on climate-resilient development.

Option A:
Option A is incorrect because subsidising fossil fuels and abandoning renewable targets lock economies into high-carbon pathways and increase vulnerability to future policy and market shifts.

Option B:
Option B is correct because it combines mitigation and adaptation instruments in a coherent framework, aligning with many national climate action plans and global recommendations.

Option C:
Option C is incorrect since focusing only on forests, while valuable, leaves out major emitting sectors like energy, industry and transport and neglects adaptation needs in vulnerable communities.

Option D:
Option D is incorrect because delaying domestic action until others move risks higher future costs and undermines collective efforts to stabilise the climate.

The Clean Development Mechanism enables developed countries to meet part of their emission reduction commitments by financing projects that reduce emissions in developing countries. These projects generate certified emission reductions that can be credited to investor countries. The mechanism is intended to support sustainable development while lowering global mitigation costs. Therefore the description in the question refers to the Clean Development Mechanism.

Option A:
Joint implementation is another flexibility mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol,but it operates between developed countries rather than between developed and developing countries. It does not fit the pattern of investment from industrialised to developing nations described in the stem. Thus it is not correct here.

Option B:
Emission trading allows countries with emission units to spare to sell them to countries exceeding their limits. While related to carbon markets,it is not specifically about project based investments in developing countries. Hence it is not the best answer.

Option C:
The Clean Development Mechanism uniquely combines emission reduction projects in developing countries with credits for developed country investors. It is project based and aims to achieve both climate and development benefits. This aligns exactly with the question’s description.

Option D:
The Green Climate Fund is a financial mechanism under the UNFCCC intended to support climate action in developing countries. It is not a Kyoto flexibility mechanism granting certified emission reductions to investors. Therefore it does not match the concept defined in the question.

The UNFCCC sets the broad goal for international efforts to address climate change. Its objective is to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that avoids dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. This implies achieving a balance where emissions and removals are compatible with environmental and socio-economic resilience. Therefore, the statement about stabilisation at a non-dangerous level correctly reflects the convention’s primary aim.

Option A:
Option A is incorrect because the convention does not demand complete elimination of fossil fuels within a short time frame. Instead, it calls for gradual, cooperative efforts to limit and reduce emissions.

Option B:
Option B is correct as it summarises the key wording of the convention’s objective. It highlights both the need to control atmospheric concentrations and the idea of preventing dangerous, rather than all, human influences on climate.

Option C:
Option C is incorrect since immediate equal per capita emissions are not mandated. While equity is an important principle, operational commitments vary by country and evolve over time.

Option D:
Option D is incorrect because the UNFCCC does not explicitly ban trade in oil and coal. It focuses on emission control, adaptation and financial support mechanisms rather than on direct trade prohibitions.

A carbon credit is a unit used in emissions trading schemes that typically corresponds to one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent reduced or removed from the atmosphere. Firms or countries that over achieve their targets can sell surplus credits to others. The stem describing a tradable certificate for one tonne of emissions reduction fits this definition exactly,so carbon credit is the correct term.

Option A:
Carbon credit schemes aim to lower overall mitigation costs by allowing reductions where they are cheapest. They also create financial incentives for emissions saving projects. This function aligns with the trading and reduction emphasis in the question.

Option B:
Carbon footprint refers to the total greenhouse gas emissions associated with an activity,person or product. It is a measure of impact,not a tradable certificate,so it does not match the stem.

Option C:
Carbon tax is a levy on carbon content of fossil fuels or on emissions themselves. It is a fiscal policy instrument rather than a unit that can be bought and sold in markets,so it is not the correct option.

Option D:
A carbon sink is a process or reservoir,such as forests or oceans,that absorbs more carbon than it emits. While projects that enhance sinks can generate carbon credits, the sink itself is not the tradable certificate described in the question.

The Kyoto Protocol,adopted in 1997,committed industrialised countries listed in Annex I of the UNFCCC to legally binding emission reduction targets for a first commitment period. It also created market mechanisms such as emissions trading and the Clean Development Mechanism. The stem clearly refers to binding greenhouse gas reduction targets for developed countries,which identifies the Kyoto Protocol. Hence Option B is correct.

Option A:
Montreal,as used in the Montreal Protocol,relates to ozone layer protection rather than greenhouse gas control. Although both agreements concern the atmosphere,they have different objectives,so Montreal is not the right answer here.

Option B:
The Kyoto Protocol represents an early attempt to operationalise the UNFCCC’s goal of stabilising greenhouse gas concentrations. Its legally binding targets for developed (Annex I) countries match the stem.

Option C:
The Cartagena Protocol deals with biosafety,particularly the transboundary movement of living modified organisms. It does not set greenhouse gas emission targets.

Option D:
Doha is associated with an amendment extending Kyoto commitments,not the original protocol establishing binding targets referred to in the stem.

In a cap and trade system, the government sets an overall “cap” on allowable emissions and allocates or auctions permits that add up to this cap. Firms that can reduce emissions cheaply may sell surplus permits to others,creating a market price for pollution. The stem describes this type of system with a limit and tradable permits,so the missing word is cap. Hence Option C is correct.

Option A:
Tax and trade is not a standard phrase. Pollution taxes operate differently by charging a fee per unit of emissions rather than fixing a quantity cap and allowing trading within that cap.

Option B:
An offset typically refers to a project or activity that compensates for emissions made elsewhere,for example through tree planting. While offsets can sometimes be linked to trading schemes,they are not the defining word in the cap and trade expression.

Option C:
Cap emphasises that the total quantity of emissions is limited to a specified level,ensuring an environmental outcome. Trading then allows flexibility in how reductions are distributed. This two part mechanism is exactly what the question refers to.

Option D:
Ratio and trade is not a recognised policy term in environmental economics. It would not convey the core idea of a fixed overall limit on emissions,so it is not an appropriate answer.

Just transition aims to make the move away from fossil fuels fair by providing alternative jobs,social protection and retraining for affected workers and regions. The endpoint of this shift is a low carbon or carbon neutral economy. The stem refers to communities dependent on fossil fuels not being left behind in the shift to a different type of economy,which is clearly a low carbon economy. Hence Option C is correct.

Option A:
Carbon intensive economy describes the current pattern that relies heavily on fossil fuels and is precisely what the transition seeks to move away from. Therefore Option A cannot fit the blank.

Option B:
Conflict ridden economy refers to social conditions rather than emissions intensity. While unmanaged transitions can create conflict,the core idea of just transition is about moving toward low carbon systems fairly.

Option C:
Low carbon economies minimise greenhouse gas emissions through clean energy,efficiency and sustainable practices. Ensuring that this transformation is socially just is the heart of the just transition concept described in the stem.

Option D:
Speculative economy suggests dependence on unstable financial speculation and is not central to climate policy debates. It does not accurately complete the phrase in the question.

Mitigation in the climate context deals with addressing the causes of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions or enhancing sinks. Actions like using renewable energy,improving efficiency and protecting forests fall under mitigation. These measures aim to limit the magnitude of future warming. Thus the description in the question clearly points to mitigation.

Option A:
Adaptation refers to adjusting natural or human systems to actual or expected climate impacts. It focuses on coping with the consequences rather than directly reducing emissions. Therefore it does not fit the emission reduction examples mentioned in the stem.

Option B:
Mitigation tackles the sources of climate change by altering energy systems,land use and industrial processes. It complements adaptation but is conceptually distinct. Since the question highlights emission reduction efforts,mitigation is the correct term.

Option C:
Compensation would involve payments for damage or loss due to climate change. While it is sometimes discussed in climate negotiations,it is not the term for emission reduction strategies. Hence it is not the best answer here.

Option D:
Transformation may describe broad socio economic changes towards sustainability. However it is not a specific technical term used for emission reduction efforts under climate policy. Thus it does not accurately capture the meaning intended in the question.