Q.1 Which of the following are incorrect?
1. The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) is a coalition of small island and low-lying coastal countries that share similar developmental challenges and concerns about the environment
2. It has a membership of 42 states from all over the world
Codes
A) 1 only
B) 2 only
C) Both 1 & 2
D) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans. A
It has a membership of 44 states from all over the world
Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) is an intergovernmental organization of low-lying coastal and small island countries. Established in 1990, the main purpose of the alliance is to consolidate the voices of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to address global warming. AOSIS has been very active from its inception, putting forward the first draft text in the Kyoto Protocol negotiations as early as 1994. At the 2013 Warsaw climate change conference, AOSIS also pushed for the establishment of an international mechanism on loss and damages stressed by the wreckage of Supertyphoon Haiyan.
Q.2 Which of the following are incorrect?
1. The Kyoto Protocol will expire in 2012.
2. The AOSIS proposal aims to extend its term upto 2017
Codes
A) 1 only
B) 2 only
C) Both 1 & 2
D) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans. D
The Protocol’s first commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 2012. A second commitment period was agreed on in 2012, known as the Doha Amendment to the protocol, in which 37 countries have binding targets: Australia, the European Union (and its 28 member states), Belarus, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, and Ukraine. Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine have stated that they may withdraw from the Protocol or not put into legal force the Amendment with second round targets. Japan, New Zealand and Russia have participated in Kyoto’s first-round but have not taken on new targets in the second commitment period.
Q.3 Which of the following are correct?
1. Cobalt 60 (60Co) is a radioactive isotope of cobalt
2. It is also used in the treatment of cancer
Codes
A) 1 only
B) 2 only
C) Both 1 & 2
D) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans. C
The main uses for 60Co are:
• As a tracer for cobalt in chemical reactions
• Sterilization of medical equipment.
• Radiation source for medical radiotherapy. Cobalt therapy, using beams of gamma rays from 60Co teletherapy machines to treat cancer, has been widely used since the 1950s.
• Radiation source for industrial radiography.
• Radiation source for leveling devices and thickness gauges.
• Radiation source for pest insect sterilization.
• As a radiation source for food irradiation and blood irradiation.
• As a radiation source for laboratory mutagenesis use.
Q.4 Which of the following are correct?
1. The ten nation Umbrella group countries pledged to act on climate change
2. Japan is not a part of the Umbrella group
Codes
A) 1 only
B) 2 only
C) Both 1 & 2
D) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans. A
The Umbrella Group is a loose coalition of non-EU developed countries which was formed against the backdrop of climate change negotiations. The Umbrella Group has always taken a position against extending the Kyoto Protocol. Although there is no formal list, the Group is usually made up of Australia, Canada, the United States, the Russian Federation, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway and Ukraine. This group has no official presidency .
Q.5 Which of the following are correct?
1. The UN organized a 10 day Work Summit on Sustainable Development (FWSSD) in Johhanesburg in 2002
2. It was attended by representatives of over 180 countries
Codes
A) 1 only
B) 2 only
C) Both 1 & 2
D) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans. C
Q.6 Which of the following are correct?
1. Along with the Poznan work programme on technology transfer the only concrete outcome of the programme was the operationalization of the Adaptation fund
2. The COP/MOP adopted several decisions to make the Fund operational, including on agreements with the Global Environmental Facility and World Bank
Codes :
A) 1 only
B) 2 only
C) Both 1 & 2
D) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans. B
At the UNFCCC COP13, the Parties requested the GEF to develop a program to promote investment in technology transfer. Its objective was to help developing countries adopt environmentally sound technologies. So, in November 2008, the Strategic Program on Technology Transfer was discussed and approved by the GEF Council and the LDCF/SCCF Council. The UNFCCC COP14 welcomed the GEF’s Strategic Program on Technology Transfer, renaming it the Poznan Strategic Program on Technology Transfer. It further requested GEF to consider long-term implementation of the strategic program. Following the guidance, Poznan Strategic Program on Technology Transfer was shaped .
Q.7 Which of the following are incorrect ?
1. Ozone is an allotropic form of carbon
2. Ozone is also known as tri-atomic oxygen (O3) and is chemically very active
Codes
A) 1 only
B) 2 only
C) Both 1 & 2
D) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans. D
Two allotropes of oxygen (dioxygen, O2, and ozone, O3),
Ozone or trioxygen, is an inorganic molecule with the chemical formula O3. It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope O2, breaking down in the lower atmosphere to normal dioxygen.
Q.8 Which of the following are correct?
1. The ‘Green India’ project, launched by the Ministry with a view to cover six million hectares of degraded forest land through afforestation measures
2. It forms part of a ‘Green India Mission’ announced under the NAPCC
Codes
A) 1 only
B) 2 only
C) Both 1 & 2
D) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans. A
The National Mission for Green India (GIM) is one of the eight Missions outlined under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). It aims at protecting; restoring and enhancing India’s diminishing forest cover and responding to climate change by a combination of adaptation and mitigation measures. It envisages a holistic view of greening and focuses on multiple ecosystem services, especially, biodiversity, water, biomass, preserving mangroves, wetlands, critical habitats etc. along with carbon sequestration as a co-benefit. This mission has adopted an integrated cross-sectoral approach as it will be implemented on both public as well as private lands with a key role of the local communities in planning, decision making, implementation and monitoring.
Goals:
• To increase forest/tree cover to the extent of 5 million hectares (mha) and improve quality of forest/tree cover on another 5 mha of forest/non-forest lands;
• To improve/enhance eco-system services like carbon sequestration and storage (in forests and other ecosystems), hydrological services and biodiversity; along with provisioning services like fuel, fodder, and timber and non-timber forest produces (NTFPs); and
• To increase forest based livelihood income of about 3 million households.
Q.9 Which of the following are incorrect?
1. The idea of carbon trading emanated after the signing of Kyoto Protocol
2. It mandates GNG emission caps on industrialized nations, which have ratified it, but also allow them to buy greener nations GHG emissions levels
Codes
A) 1 only
B) 2 only
C) Both 1 & 2
D) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans. D
The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty, which extends the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits State Parties to reduce greenhouse gases emissions, based on the premise that (a) global warming exists and (b) man-made CO2 emissions have caused it. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. There are currently 192 Parties (Canada withdrew effective December 2012) to the Protocol.
The Kyoto Protocol implemented the objective of the UNFCCC to fight global warming by reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere to “a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system”. The Protocol is based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities: it puts the obligation to reduce current emissions on developed countries on the basis that they are historically responsible for the current levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Q.10 Which of the following are correct?
1. The world’s first zero emission polar research station-Belgium’s princess Elisabeth station is in East Antarctica
2. The green research station will rely on wind and solar power
Codes
A) 1 only
B) 2 only
C) Both 1 & 2
D) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans. C
World’s first zero emission Antarctic research station was unveiled in Brussels. The sleek, pod-like station will be powered only by renewable sources of energy.
