Every UPSC Prelims question on this topic, 2016–2026, newest first. Tap an option to check yourself; the answer and explanation open below it.
Asked in 11 of 11 years · most in 2019 (6)
UPSC syllabus: “General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change - that do not require subject specialization.” See the full syllabus →
‘Invasive Species Specialist Group’ (that develops Global Invasive Species Database) belongs to which one of the following organizations?
Answer & explanation▾
Answer: (a) The International Union for Conservation of Nature
The Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) is one of the expert groups of IUCN's Species Survival Commission, and it built and runs the Global Invasive Species Database (GISD).
✓(a)The GISD was developed and is managed by the ISSG of the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
✗(b)UNEP is the UN's environment agency; it does not house the ISSG, which sits inside IUCN's commission structure.
✗(d)WWF is an independent conservation NGO; the ISSG and its database are part of IUCN, the body that also publishes the Red List.
Remember · ISSG → IUCN Species Survival Commission → runs the Global Invasive Species Database (GISD). IUCN also compiles the Red List.
Sources
IUCN ISSG, Global Invasive Species Database ↗ · reference work“The Global Invasive Species Database was developed and is managed by the Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) of the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) —
paper ↗ · answer key ↗.
Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·
Statement-I:Carbon markets are likely to be one of the most widespread tools in the fight against climate change.
Statement-II:Carbon markets transfer resources from the private sector to the State.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
Answer & explanation▾
Answer: (b) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is not the correct explanation for Statement-I
Carbon markets put a price on each tonne of emissions and are spreading fast, from the EU's emissions trading system to India's Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (2023). When governments auction emission allowances, money does flow from companies to the State, but that revenue is a by-product; markets are popular because pricing carbon makes polluters cut emissions where it is cheapest.
✓Statement-IEmissions trading and carbon-credit markets are among the most widely adopted climate policy tools; India notified its own Carbon Credit Trading Scheme in June 2023 to put a price on a tonne of CO2-equivalent.
✓Statement-IIWhere allowances are auctioned, companies pay the government: EU ETS auctions raise revenue for national budgets and climate funds. This transfer is not why carbon markets are used, so Statement-II does not explain Statement-I.
Remember · Carbon market = cap (or intensity target) + tradable permits/credits → carbon gets a price. Auctioned permits raise public revenue. India: Carbon Credit Trading Scheme, 2023 (BEE administers).
European Commission, EU ETS: Auctioning ↗“Auctioning of allowances in the EU ETS raises revenues for national budgets, the Innovation Fund, the Modernisation Fund and starting in 2026, the Social Climate Fund.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) —
paper ↗ · answer key ↗.
Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·
Once the Central Government notifies an area as a ‘Community Reserve’
1.the Chief Wildlife Warden of the State becomes the governing authority of such forest
2.hunting is not allowed in such area
3.people of such area are allowed to collect non-timber forest produce
4.people of such area are allowed traditional agricultural practices
How many of the above statements are correct?
Answer & explanation▾
Answer: (b) Only two
Why not the tempting option · UPSC's key is (b): statements 2 and 3 are correct, 1 and 4 are not. The Act settles 1 (a Community Reserve management committee, not the Chief Wild Life Warden, manages the reserve) and supports 2 (the general ban on hunting applies, and the sanctuary duty to secure wild animals is extended to community reserves). On 3 and 4 the Act grants no positive rights: it does not extend the sanctuary bar on removing forest produce (section 29) to community reserves, so collection of non-timber produce continues, but it freezes the land-use pattern (section 36C(3)), which rules out opening reserve land to cultivation — forest officials in Nagaland describe community reserves as areas where people can neither hunt nor farm, 'leave alone jhum cultivation'. A looser reading that treats settled farming as unchanged land use would give three, but the key does not take it; and the stem's 'Central Government notifies' is loose (the State Government declares a community reserve) without changing the count. In the exam, read the land-use freeze as excluding agriculture.
A Community Reserve is declared by the State Government on private or community land whose owners volunteer to conserve wildlife, and it is run by a Community Reserve management committee, so statement 1 is wrong. Hunting stays banned (2) and the Act does not bar the collection of forest produce there (3), but the land-use pattern is frozen, so reserve land cannot be turned over to cultivation (4): two statements are correct.
✗1.Section 36D of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 makes the Community Reserve management committee, constituted by the State Government, the authority for conserving, maintaining and managing the reserve. The Chief Wild Life Warden controls sanctuaries, not community reserves.
✓2.Hunting of protected wild animals is banned by section 9 everywhere, and section 36C(2) extends to a community reserve the sanctuary duty under section 33(b) to ensure the security of wild animals.
✓3.The Act applies only selected sanctuary provisions to a community reserve — sections 18(2), 27(2) to (4), 30, 32 and 33(b) and (c). The sanctuary bar on removing forest produce (section 29) is not among them, so the community's collection of non-timber produce on its own land continues under the management committee.
✗4.Section 36C(3) freezes the land-use pattern after notification: no change is allowed without a resolution of the management committee and State Government approval, so reserve land cannot be opened to cultivation. In Nagaland, which has the most community reserves, forest officials describe them as areas where people can neither hunt nor farm, leave alone practise jhum.
Remember · Community Reserve (Wild Life (Protection) Act, s. 36C-36D, added 2002): private or community land, declared by the State Government, managed by a Community Reserve management committee; hunting banned, land-use pattern frozen, forest-produce collection not barred.
Sources
Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, section 36C (India Code) ↗“The State Government may, where the community or an individual has volunteered to conserve wild life and its habitat, declare any private or community land not comprised within a National Park, sanctuary or a conservation reserve, as a community reserve … The State Government shall constitute a Community Reserve management committee, which shall be the authority responsible for conserving, maintaining and managing the community reserve. … no change in the land use pattern shall be made within the community reserve, except in accordance with a resolution passed by the management committee and approval of the same by the State Government. … The provisions of sub-section (2) of section 18, sub-sections (2), (3) and (4) of section 27, sections 30, 32 and clauses (b) and (c) of section 33 shall, as far as may be, apply in relation to a community reserve as they apply in relation to a sanctuary.”
Consider the following statements regarding mercury pollution:
1.Gold mining activity is a source of mercury pollution in the world.
2.Coal-based thermal power plants cause mercury pollution.
3.There is no known safe level of exposure to mercury.
How many of the above statements are correct?
Answer & explanation▾
Answer: (b) Only two
Statements 1 and 2 are correct; statement 3 is not. Gold mining and coal-fired power stations are both major sources of mercury releases, but international health bodies have set tolerable intake levels for mercury, so it is wrong to say that no safe level is known.
✓1.WHO lists mining for mercury, gold and other metals among the main human causes of mercury release, and warns that mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining is particularly hazardous.
✓2.WHO names coal-fired power stations among the main sources of mercury releases. Coal contains mercury, which escapes when it is burned.
✗3.The FAO/WHO expert committee JECFA set a tolerable intake of 1.6 micrograms per kg of body weight per week for methylmercury. Exposure is harmful at high levels, but a tolerable level has been defined.
Remember · Mercury comes from coal burning and gold mining, among other sources. WHO and FAO experts have set a tolerable weekly intake for methylmercury, so a safe level is defined.
Sources
Mercury and health (World Health Organization fact sheet) ↗“Human activity is the main cause of mercury releases, particularly coal-fired power stations, residential coal burning for heating and cooking, industrial processes, waste incinerators and as a result of mining for mercury, gold and other metals.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) —
paper ↗ · answer key ↗.
Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·
1.In India, the Biodiversity Management Committees are key to the realization of the objectives of the Nagoya Protocol.
2.The Biodiversity Management Committees have important functions in determining access and benefit sharing, including the power to levy collection fees on the access of biological resources within its jurisdiction.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer & explanation▾
Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2
Both statements are correct. The Nagoya Protocol is about fair sharing of benefits from genetic resources, and in India the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 gives village-level Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) a say in access decisions and the power to levy collection fees.
✓1.The Nagoya Protocol aims at fair and equitable sharing of benefits from genetic resources. India's law for this, the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, requires the National Biodiversity Authority and State Biodiversity Boards to consult the local BMC before decisions on using resources in its area, which makes BMCs the local channel for access and benefit sharing.
✓2.Section 41(3) of the Act says BMCs may levy charges by way of collection fees from any person accessing or collecting biological resources for commercial purposes from their territorial jurisdiction.
Remember · BMCs are set up by local bodies under Section 41 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. They are consulted on access to local biological resources and can levy collection fees, which is India's ground-level route to Nagoya-style benefit sharing.
Sources
The Biological Diversity Act, 2002, section 41 (India Code) ↗“The Biodiversity Management Committees may levy charges by way of collection fees from any person for accessing or collecting any biological resource for commercial purposes from areas falling within its territorial jurisdiction. … The National Biodiversity Authority and the State Biodiversity Boards shall consult the Biodiversity Management Committees while taking any decision relating to the use of biological resources and knowledge associated with such resources”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) —
paper ↗ · answer key ↗.
Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·