UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

The Green Credit Programme is intended to encourage positive environmental actions by various actors through a system of credits. Stakeholders who undertake approved activities, like plantation on identified degraded lands, receive green credits that can later be traded on a designated platform. The rules were notified under the Environment (Protection) Act in October 2023, and subsequent guidance has stressed voluntary participation and market incentives. This design aims to link ecological restoration with economic signals rather than relying only on command-and-control regulation. (moefcc-gcp.in)

Option A:
This option is incorrect because the programme is not limited to penalties; instead, it revolves around positive incentives in the form of tradable credits. While regulation remains important in environmental law, GCP specifically experiments with a market-based approach.

Option B:
Restricting participation to multinational corporations would undermine the programme’s emphasis on diverse stakeholders, including individuals, communities and domestic firms. Official documents explicitly mention a wide range of eligible actors.

Option C:
This option captures the core elements of the GCP: voluntary environmental actions, issuance of credits and tradability. It also highlights tree plantation on degraded land, which is one of the key activities envisaged. Because it aligns with official descriptions of the scheme’s intent and design, it is the correct answer.

Option D:
Financing only thermal power plants is not the focus of GCP; while decarbonisation of power is important, the programme is broader and not confined to a single sector. This statement therefore mischaracterises its scope.

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.