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(E-Book) YOJANA MAGAZINE HINDI PDF - JAN 2020 (HINDI)

 (E-Book) YOJANA MAGAZINE PDF - JAN 2020 (HINDI)

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जलवायु परिवर्तन पर संयुक्त राष्ट्र फ्रेमवर्क साध में शामिल देशों कॉप के 25वें सम्मेलन में भारत 

जलवायु वार्ता में भारत अडिग (मदन जैड़ा)

सार्वजनिक स्वास्थ्य सुविधाओं का "कायाकल्प' (प्रीति सूदन)

शहरों में स्वच्छता के स्थाई उपाय (दुर्गा शंकर मिश्रा)

जल हो जीवन है (यूनिसेफ जल, स्वच्छता और स्वास्थ्य रक्षा टीम)

पर्यावरण बचने के लिए जन संकल्प जरुरी (अरुण तिवारी)

साक्षात्कार प्रोफेसर एम एस स्वामीनाथन से बातचीत

ताकि न रहे कार्बन फुटप्रिंट का नामोनिशान (टी श्री रामचन्द्र, भरत संतुर, विनायक एस. भरत एच ऐथल)

कृषि में प्रबुद्ध समाज की पहल (चन्द्रशेखर राव नुथालापति)

आपदा प्रबंधन और जलवायु परिवर्तन संचार में सामुदायिक रेडियो की भूमिका (नुति नमिता) 

सड़कों के निर्माण में बेहद कारगर है प्लास्टिक अपशिष्ट (अशोक जी मटानी)

मजबूत लोकतंत्र के लिए चुनावी साक्षरता (उमेश सिन्हा)

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(E-Book) YOJANA MAGAZINE PDF - JAN 2020

 (E-Book) YOJANA MAGAZINE PDF - JAN 2020

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(E-Book) GEOGRAPHY Categorised Papers (20+ Years 1991-2015)

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(E-Book) UPSC MAINS GEOGRAPHY Categorised Papers (20+ Years 1991-2015) PDF

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Contents:

SYLLABUS OF GEOGRAPHY FOR IAS MAINS .......................1
SUGGESTED READING FOR GEOGRAPHY ............................4
HOW TO PREPARE GEOGRAPHY .... 6
INDIA MAP..... 8
GEOGRAPHY CATEGORIZED PAPER–2015.......................... 15
GEOGRAPHY CATEGORIZED PAPER–2014.......................... 18
GEOGRAPHY CATEGORIZED PAPER–2013.......................... 21

PAPER–I

PRINCIPLE OF GEOGRAPHY

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
1. GEOMORPHOLOGY ...................... 27
2. CLIMATOLOGY .............................. 29
3. OCEANOGRAPHY .......................... 31
4. BIOGEOGRAPHY............................ 33
5. ENVIRONMENTAL GEOGRAPHY ....................................... 34
6. PERSPECTIVES IN HUMAN GEOGRAPHY ....................... 39

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

7. ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY .......... 41
8. POPULATION AND SETTLEMENT GEOGRAPHY .......... 43
9. REGIONAL PLANNING ................. 45
10. MODELS, THEORIES AND LAWS IN HUMAN GEOGRAPHY ............................. 47

PAPER–II

(GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA)

1. PHYSICAL SETTING ...................... 51
2. RESOURCES ..................................... 54
3. AGRICULTURE................................ 56
4. INDUSTRY ......................................... 58

5. TRANSPORT, COMMUNICATION AND TRADE ............. 60
6. CULTURAL SETTING .................... 62
7. SETTLEMENTS ............................... 64
8. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND PLANNING ................ 66
9. POLITICAL ASPECTS .................... 68
10. CONTEMPORARY ISSUES ......... 70
11. WORLD MAP.................................. 72

PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS

  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 1991 ....................... 81
  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 1992 ....................... 85
  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 1993 ....................... 86
  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 1994 ....................... 91
  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 1995 ....................... 92
  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 1996 ....................... 97
  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 1997 ....................... 98
  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 1998 ..................... 100
  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 1999 ..................... 102
  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 2000 ..................... 104
  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 2001 ..................... 106
  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 2002 ..................... 108
  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 2003 ..................... 110
  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 2004 ..................... 112
  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 2005 ..................... 114
  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 2006 ..................... 116
  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 2007 ..................... 118
  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 2008 ..................... 120
  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 2009 ..................... 122
  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 2010 ..................... 127
  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 2011...................... 128
  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 2012 ..................... 132
  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 2013 ..................... 136
  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 2014 ..................... 140
  • PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS 2015 ..................... 144
  • GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA AND THE WORLD ........................ ...148
  • GLOSSARY OF GEOGRAPHY FOR IAS MAINS .................... 187

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Study Material for UPSC Mains General Studies (Paper 1-4)

(E-Book) SOCIOLOGY Categorised Papers (20+ Years 1964-2015)

UPSC-MAINS-SOCIOLOGY-PAPERS-PDF

(E-Book) UPSC MAINS SOCIOLOGY Categorised Papers (20+ Years 1964-2015) PDF

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Contents:

1. Sociology IAS Mains Syllabus ................................................... 1
2. Suggested Reading .................................. 4
3. Sociology Categorized Question Papers–2015 ................ 7
4. Sociology Categorized Question Papers–2014 ............. 10
5. Sociology Categorized Question Papers–2013 ............. 13
6. Sociology (Main) Topic Wise Question Papers (1989-2013) ......................... 16
7. Previous Years Questions Papers (1964–2015) ........ 40
8. Definitions of Sociology ................. 95
9. Glossary of Sociology for IAS Mains ........................... 100
10. Short Notes on Sociology .................................................. 110-138

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(E-Book) HISTORY Categorised Papers (20+ Years 1973-2015)

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(E-Book) UPSC MAINS HISTORY Categorised Papers (20+ Years 1973-2015) PDF

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Contents:

SYLLABUS

HISTORY—Syllabus for Mains Examination .............................iii-ix
Strategy for History as Optional in Main Examination............ x- xiii
Suggested Reading ................................. xiv-xv
Categorized Question Paper – 2015 .......... 1-4
Categorized Question Paper – 2014 .......... 5-8
Categorized Question Paper – 2013 ........ 9-11

PAPER - I

CATEGORISED 13-84
1 Sources of Ancient Indian History ............. 15
2 Pre-history and Proto-history ...................... 17
3 Indus Valley Civilization ............................. 17
4 Vedic Period ............ 19
5 Period of Mahajanapadas ........................... 19
6 Mauryan Empire ..... 21
7 Post Mauryan Period .................................... 21
8 Early State & Society in Eastern India, Deccan & South India .... 23
9 Guptas, Vakatakas and Vardhanas ........... 23
10 Regional States During Gupta Period ....... 25
11 Themes in Early Indian Cultural History.. 25
12 Early Medieval India: 750 - 1200 ................ 27
13 Cultural Traditions in India: 750 - 1200 ..... 29
14 The Thirteenth Century ............................... 29
15 The Fourteenth Century .............................. 31
16 Society, Culture & Economy in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Century .......................... 31
17 The 15th & Early 16th Century — Political Developments & Economy ........................... 33
18 The 15th and early 16th Century – Society and Culture ............... 33
19 Akbar........................ 35
20 Mughal Empire in the 17th Century .......... 35

21 Economy and Society in the 16th and 17th Century ...................... 37
22 Culture in the Mughal Empire .................... 37
23 The 18th Century .... 39
24 Map Based Questions .................................. 39

PAPER - II

1 British Expansion in India ........................... 49
2 Economic Impact of British Colonial Rule  51
3 Indian Response to British Rule ................. 53
4 Social and Cultural Development .............. 54
5 Birth of Indian Nationalism ........................ 56
6 De-Industrialisation ..................................... 57
7 Rise of Gandhi ........ 59
8 Literary and Cultural Movements ............. 60
9 Other Strands in the National Movement  61
10 Independence ......... 62
11 Constitutional Developments in the Colonial India between 1858 & 1935 ..................... 63
12 Enlightenment and Modern Ideas ............. 64
13 India and her Neighbours (1947-64) .......... 65
14 Origins of Modern Politics .......................... 66
15 Industrialization ..... 68
16 Nation – State System .................................. 71
17 Arab World - Egypts  72
18 The Great Depression ................................. 73
19 History of Far East... 74
20 Imperialism and Colonialism ..................... 75
21 Mass Revolution and Fascist Counter – Revolution ...................... 77
22 World Wars .............. 79
23 Liberation from Colonial Rule .................... 80
24 Cold Wars ................. 81
25 Unification of Europe ................................... 82
26 De-colonization & Underdevelopment ..... 83
27 Disintegration of Soviet Union and the Rise of Unipolar World.. 84

PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPER

Previous Years Question Paper (1973-2015) ................................. 163
Miscellaneous ....... 176

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 23 December 2019 (Attaining Budget revenue targets is difficult in a slowing economy (The Hindu)

Attaining Budget revenue targets is difficult in a slowing economy (The Hindu)

  • Mains Paper 3: Economy 
  • Prelims level: Revenue deficit 
  • Mains level:  Cause of revenue deficit in a slowing economy

Context:

  • The fresh ‘strategy’ drawn up by the Finance Ministry to boost tax collections for the rest of this fiscal year makes for bemusing reading.

Background:

  • It concerned about indirect tax collections falling well short of ambitious targets set out in the July Budget, the Finance Ministry is said to have called a joint meeting of all senior tax officials from the CBIC (Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs) and CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes) to exhort them to meet their revenue targets for this fiscal. 
  • In the meeting, the indirect tax administration has reportedly been given a GST collection target of ₹1.1 lakh crore for the remaining four months. 
  • Direct tax officials have been told that recent corporate tax cuts ‘cannot be taken as an excuse’ for mop-ups falling short of targets. 
  • This sort of exhortation to the administration to extract higher taxes from individuals and businesses at a time when incomes and profits are clearly under pressure is the perfect recipe for unfair demands and tax terrorism.

Willful ignorance: 

  • These actions reveal either an alarming lack of understanding or a willful ignorance on the part of the incumbent government that tax collections cannot be divorced from the economy’s growth rate. 
  • India’s nominal GDP growth rate in the first six months of this fiscal has been at 7 per cent compared to the 12 per cent growth assumed in the Budget forecasts. 
  • This inflexibility on tax targets is completely at odds with the NDA regime’s avowed objective of facilitating ease of doing business. 
  • It could also end up worsening the slowdown by inflicting more damage on already fragile investor confidence. 
  • This insistence on targets also sits oddly with the Centre reportedly telling the Fifteenth Finance Commission just six months ago that its tax revenue growth was likely to fall substantially short of projections for the next five years.

Way ahead:

  • The Centre would be better off admitting that the 11 per cent growth in tax revenues projected in its July Budget can no longer be attained and letting the fiscal deficit slip, as suggested by State governments in the recent GST Council meeting.
  • Options such as hiking GST rates to bridge the gap or trying to eke out higher taxes from compliant assessees with half-baked notices would be regressive in the current context. 
  • It simplifying the GST compliance burden in line with recent stakeholder feedback, even as anti-evasion measures are implemented should be the way forward.
  •  Many expert committees including the Tax Administrative Reforms Commission in 2015 have urged the Central government to set its Budget revenue collection targets after seeking frank feedback from the tax administration. 

Conclusion:

  • For a dynamic economy, there’s also need for mid-year reviews of Union Budget estimates to allow its revenue and expenditure targets and fiscal deficit estimates to be adjusted in line with changing economic conditions.

 

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Prelims Questions: 

Q.1) With reference to the Sustainable Development Cell (SDC), consider the following statements:

1. Union Ministry of Coal has recently decided to establish a Sustainable Development Cell (SDC) to promote environmentally sustainable coal mining in the country. 
2. It will address environmental concerns during the decommissioning or closure of mines.

Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) None of the above

Ans: c

Mains Questions:

Q.1) What are the problems faced by central government to attain the revenue shortfall? 

THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 23 December 2019 (Some onion lessons (Indian Express))

Some onion lessons (Indian Express)

  • Mains Paper 3: Economy 
  • Prelims level: Minimum export price
  • Mains level:  Storage facilities for rabi onions

Context:

  • The failure to control spiking onion prices (it has crossed Rs 100/kg in several retail markets) has become a nightmare for the central government. 

How future fiascos with regard to onions can be avoided?

  • When retail prices touched Rs 50-60/kg in September-October, the government imposed minimum export price (MEP), put stocking limits on retailers and wholesalers and then banned onion exports. 
  • However, when these measures failed to tame onion prices, even income tax raids were conducted on traders. 
  • This shows the bankruptcy of ideas in policy-making. Such a situation has arisen almost every alternate year, but we have refused to learn. 
  • As finance minister, the late Arun Jaitley had announced and allocated Rs 500 crore for “Operation Green” in the 2018 Union Budget precisely to stabilise the prices of tomatoes, onions and potatoes (TOP). 
  • The scheme was to be implemented by the Ministry of Food Processing, but their website shows that the money has still not been released.
  • The current spike in onion prices could have been anticipated. 
  • The Horticulture Statistics Division had reported 7 per cent lower kharif acreage compared to the previous year (2.73 lakh ha) in major onion growing states (Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan). 
  • Due to heavy rains in September/October, almost 58 per cent of the kharif onions in MP, 18 per cent in Karnataka and 2 per cent in AP were damaged. 
  • Besides, continuous rains led to a delay in harvesting in Maharashtra. The government woke up to the problem late and directed MMTC to import 1 lakh million tonnes (mt) of onions. 
  • With relaxed fumigation norms, onions are being imported from Afghanistan, Turkey, and Egypt. The question is at what price MMTC will import the onions and dump it on the Indian market.

As a largest exporter:

  • India is already the largest exporter of onions in the world with average exports of 2 mmt a year. 
  • Instead of banning exports, it is better to keep imports open so that when domestic prices rise unduly, private trade can start importing rather than waiting for the government to take a delayed decision. 
  • This way, India can remain a reliable exporter, which will help farmers get better prices on a sustainable basis. 
  • Abrupt export bans are not only anti-farmer but actually reflect the failure of government policy. To take care of consumers’ interests, India needs to build proper value chains as envisaged under “Operation Green”.

What needs to be done to safeguard the interests of farmers as well as consumers? 

  • To storage facilities for rabi onions must be created on massive scale, both at the farmers’ end as well as with traders. 
  • When prices were hovering around Rs 4-5/kg in April-May, the government could have purchased onions at, say, Rs10/kg and stored the stock in modern, private-sector godowns. 
  • Repeated stocking limits and raids discourage private investment in modern cold storages. 
  • For encouraging private storages, the Essential Commodities Act has to go, and if traders collude, let the Competition Commission of India (CCI), and not income tax officials, look into this.
  • The government needs to promote the use of dehydrated onions (flakes, powder, granules) among urban households and bulk consumers (armed forces, hospitals, hotels and restaurants, etc). 
  • As onions are sensitive commodities, the government should also keep a buffer stock of dehydrated onions, which have a much longer shelf life. 
  • Also, 1 kg of dehydrated onion equals 10 kg of fresh onions. This is the right time to promote their use. 
  • With more than 100 units, Mahuva in Gujarat is already a hub for the dehydrated onion industry. But with low international demand and negligible domestic demand, these units have high pile up of the previous year’s stocks. 
  • On the contrary, Jain Irrigation emerged as the largest dehydrated onion company in India engaging small and marginal farmers on contract. 
  • The price to be paid to growers is assured by the company even before planting. And if the market price after harvest is higher than the assured price, then farmers get a price that is 60 paise/kg less than the market price. Such models of contract farming reduce market risk and need to be scaled up.
  • Small and marginal farmers should be organised in Farmer-Producer Organisations and direct buying by organised retailers should be encouraged through contract farming, bypassing the mandi system. 
  • Additionally, market reforms along with overhauling the infrastructure of existing APMC mandis are required. 

Way ahead:

  • After over five years in office, the Modi government has missed the golden opportunity of carrying out APMC reforms in the large number of states it ruled, and this opportunity is slipping further by the day. 
  • Without that, the prospects of unified national markets, stabilising prices or ensuring a fair price to farmers and consumers are bleak.
  • It is time to wake up from the onion nightmare and work towards more sustainable solutions, rather than knee-jerk measures.

 

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Prelims Questions: 

Q.1) With reference to the ‘COP25’ 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference, consider the following statements:

1. International climate talks at COP25 closed with no deal on carbon markets. 
2. It was held in Chile under the presidency of the Chilean government. 

Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) None of the above

Ans: A

Mains Questions:

Q.1) What are the steps needed to the storage facilities for rabi onions must be created on a massive scale? 

THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 23 December 2019 (Why Amazon rainforest is reaching a dangerous tipping point (Indian Express))

Why Amazon rainforest is reaching a dangerous tipping point (Indian Express)

  • Mains Paper 3: Environment 
    Prelims level: Amazon rainforest
    Mains level:  Threat to the Amazon rainforestU climate action plan

Context:

  • The researchers Thomas E Lovejoy and Carlos Nobre have said that while 2019 was not the worst year for fire or deforestation in the Amazon.
  • As the world’s largest tropical rainforest the precious Amazon is teetering on the edge of functional destruction and, with it, so are we.

Why is the Amazon rainforest in danger?

  • The Amazon basin is the world’s largest repository of biodiversity and produces about 20 per cent of the world’s flow of freshwater into the oceans. 
  • In the recent few years, the rainforest has been under threat from deforestation and burning. 
  • Earlier this year, fires in the Amazon that were visible from space made headlines. According to Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE), forest fires in the Brazilian part of the rainforests have doubled since 2013. 
  • It estimates an increase of over 84 per cent since last year. 
  • Until August this year, over 72,000 fires were recorded. June to December is considered to be burning season when farmers want to clear land for farming.
  • Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, which comprises about two-thirds of the area of the rainforest, started in the 1970s and 1980s when large-scale forest conversion for cattle ranching and soy cultivation began. 
  • NASA’s Earth Observatory notes that state policies that encourage economic development, such as railway and road expansion projects have led to “unintentional deforestation” in the Amazon and Central America. 
  • The forest clearing has been encouraged by agricultural subsidies, timber concessions and tax breaks have encouraged forest clearing in the Amazon.

What the researchers have said?

  • The researchers mention that when it rains on the landscape of the Amazon forest, it returns at least 75 per cent of the moisture to the westward-moving air mass. 
  • Over the whole Amazon basin, the air rises, cools and precipitates out close to 20 per cent of the world’s river water in the Amazon river system. 
  • The moisture of the Amazon is crucial for the continental climate system and has specific benefits for Brazilian agriculture practised in the south.
  • The fact is that every country in South America other than Chile (blocked from this moisture by the Andes) benefits from Amazon moisture.
  • Essentially, when forests are cut, the land is rendered barren, which means that potentially more than 50 per cent of the rainforest runs off and not much water is left for recycling. 

Their predictions:

  • The researchers predict that if the deforestation continues to happen at the going rate, the rainforest, which they have likened in size to that of 48 states of the continental US.
  • This could soon not have enough moisture for the rainforests to sustain, eventually leading to the development of savannahs in the eastern and southern portions of the Amazon.
  • Perhaps extending into central and southwestern areas, because these zones are naturally close to the minimum amount of rainfall required for the rain forest to thrive.
  • The situation may exacerbate further due to “negative synergies” induced by man-made global warming.
  • In addition, although deforestation anywhere in the Amazon diminishes its hydrological cycle, what happens in the Brazilian Amazon is particularly important because of the sensitivity of that part of the forest to incremental and cumulative impacts of vegetative decline from dieback.
  • The researchers have estimated that 17 per cent of the entire rainforest and about 20 per cent of the Brazilian rainforest has been deforested. They refer to these figures as “substantial and frightening”.

What is dieback?

  • When the Amazon rainforest reaches its tipping point, which is to say when the level of deforestation has led to there not being enough water for recycling and as result, moisture to induce rainfall, the rainforests will be unable to sustain themselves. 
  • This will lead to a situation when the trees, and in turn, the forest will start to “dieback”. In other words, some trees and eventually the forests will reach the physiological limits of dryness probably induced by droughts and heat stress. 
  • Because of this dehydration, the affected trees will begin to die from the tip of their leaves or roots backwards.
  • The first time that an Amazon dieback scenario was suggested was in 2000 by Peter M Cox who published his findings about running large-scale computer simulations that showed how forests were affected by a changing climate scenario throughout the 21st century.
  • As per Cox’s analysis, forests would continue to take up carbon until about 2050, post which, warmer temperatures and water-related stress could cause dieback of the Amazon rainforest. 
  • Essentially this means that instead of being a carbon sink, the rainforest would start emitting carbon.

Way forward:

  • Through reforestation, Brazil should help to reach its goals under the Paris Agreement and a “new vision” for the Amazon must be created by the citizens and leaders of South America and the world, they say.
  • The tipping point is here, it is now. The peoples and leaders of the Amazon countries together have the power, the science, and the tools to avoid a continental-scale, indeed, a global environmental disaster. 
  • Together, we need the will and imagination to tip the direction of change in favor of a sustainable Amazon.

 

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Prelims Questions: 

Q.1) With reference to the Article 30(1) of the Constitution of India, consider the following statements:

1. Article 30(1) of the Constitution of India gives linguistic and religious minorities a fundamental right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. 
2. The Supreme Court in T.M.A. Pai Foundation vs. State of Karnataka (2002) held that a minority, whether linguistic or religious, is determinable only by taking into consideration the population of the country as a whole.

Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) None of the above

Ans: A

Mains Questions:

Q.1) How deforestation and burning became a threat to the Amazon basin?

THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 23 December 2019 (Why EU Green Deal matters (Indian Express))

Why EU Green Deal matters (Indian Express)

  • Mains Paper 3: Environment 
  • Prelims level: EU Green Deal
  • Mains level:  EU climate action plan

Context:

  • The annual climate talks ended in Madrid last week with a disappointing outcome. 
  • The talks were unable to define the rules of a new carbon market to be set up under the Paris Agreement, the only major agenda before it. 
  • Nor were they able to persuade countries to commit to increase the scale of climate actions by next year, a demand being made again and again in view of scientific assessments that show that current efforts to tackle climate change were not enough.

Why EU Green Deal matters? 

  • The European Union, whose 28 member countries are together the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world after China and the United States, came up with an announcement on additional measures it would on climate change. 
  • Called the European Green Deal, the EU announcement was hailed as a major step forward, even though it needs complementary efforts from other countries to make a significant impact.

The two key decisions

  • Two major decisions are at the heart of the European Green Deal. One is about achieving “climate neutrality”. 
  • The EU has promised to bring a law, binding on all member countries, to ensure it becomes “climate neutral” by 2050.
  • Climate neutrality, sometimes also expressed as a state of net-zero emissions, is achieved when a country’s emissions are balanced by absorptions and removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. 
  • Absorption can be increased by creating more carbon sinks like forests, while removal involves technologies like carbon capture and storage.
  • The EU is now the first major emitter to agree to the 2050 climate neutrality target. It has said it would bring a proposal by March next year on a European law to enshrine this target.

Increase emission reduction target:

  • The second decision pertains to an increase in its 2030 emission reduction target. 
  • In its climate action plan declared under the Paris Agreement, the EU was committed to making a 40 per cent reduction in its emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. 
  • It is now promising to increase this reduction to at least 50 per cent and work towards 55 per cent.
  • Even at 40 per cent, the European Union had the most ambitious emission reduction targets among the developed countries. 
  • The US had agreed to cut emissions by 26-28 per cent by 2030 from 2005 levels, but having withdrawn from the Paris Agreement, it is under no obligation to fulfill even that target.
  • The EU also happens to be only one among major emitters to retain the 1990 baseline for emission cuts, originally mandated under the Kyoto Protocol for all developed countries. 
  • Most other countries have shifted their baselines to 2005 or even later under the 2015 Paris Agreement.
  • The Green Deal includes sectoral plans to achieve these two overall targets, and proposals for the policy changes that would be required. 

Better than others

  • The European Union, as a whole, has been doing better than other developed countries on reducing emissions. 
  • In 2010, the EU had pledged to reduce its emissions by at least 25 per cent by 2020 from 1990 levels. 
  • By 2018, it claimed to have achieved 23 per cent reduction in emissions. In terms of emission reductions, it probably is on track to meet the 2020 target, unlike any developed country outside the EU.
  • Canada, which walked out of the Kyoto Protocol, reported last year that its emissions were down 4 per cent from 2005 levels, but compared to 1990, this was an addition of about 16 per cent. 
  • Japan, another country to have abandoned the Kyoto Protocol, said its emissions for the year ending March 31, 2018 had come to about 8 per cent below the 2013 baseline it has chosen for itself. But this is a miniscule decrease compared to 1990 levels.

Way ahead:

  • The Green Deal is important but inadequate in itself to achieve the emission reductions that scientific assessments say would be required to save the world from catastrophic and irreversible impacts of climate change. 
  • There has been no signal from other big emitters, including large developing countries like China and India, that they were considering immediate scaling up of their climate actions.

Conclusion:

  • As long as many international partners do not share the same ambition as the EU, there is a risk of carbon leakage, either because production is transferred from the EU to other countries with lower ambition for emission reduction, or because EU products are replaced by more carbon-intensive imports. 
  • If this risk materializes, there will be no reduction in global emissions, and this will frustrate the efforts of EU and its industries to meet the global climate objectives of the Paris Agreement.

Online Coaching for UPSC PRE Exam

General Studies Pre. Cum Mains Study Materials

Prelims Questions: 

Q.1) With reference to the Global Sulphur cap complaint fuel oil, consider the following statements:

1. International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations to reduce sulphur oxides (SOx) emissions from ships first came into force in 2005, under Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (known as the MARPOL Convention). 
2. From 1 January 2020, the limit for sulphur in fuel oil used on board ships operating outside designated emission control areas will be reduced to 0.50% m/m (mass by mass). 

Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) None of the above

Ans: C

Mains Questions:

Q.1) The European Union has come up with a climate action plan when the global climate talks failed to reach key objectives. In this context, what is the EU’s plan? How does it compare to others’, and how much remains to be done?

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