UPSC Prelims 2010 Q129: Environment & Ecology – Climate Change & Greenhouse Gases
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) 1 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only
Explanation
India's limitations in mitigating global warming: checking three claims
India faces specific, real constraints in its climate-mitigation capacity.
| Statement | Verdict | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Alternate technologies not sufficiently available | Correct | India often lacks easy access to the latest clean-energy and low-carbon technologies, a genuine limitation |
| 2. Cannot invest huge funds in research and development | Correct | As a developing economy with competing priorities, India's capacity to invest massive R&D funds in climate technology is genuinely constrained |
| 3. Developed countries have already set up polluting industries in India | Incorrect | While a common political talking point, this is not typically treated as a core 'limitation of India' in mitigating warming; it shifts blame rather than describing India's own capacity constraint |
India's genuine climate-mitigation limitations:
| Point | Detail |
|---|---|
| Technology gap | Limited access to cutting-edge clean technologies |
| Financial constraint | Limited R&D investment capacity |
| Not a core limitation | Blaming developed countries' industrial relocation, which is a separate political argument |
Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) CORRECT. Limited technology access and limited R&D investment capacity are India's genuine self-capacity limitations; the third statement shifts blame rather than describing India's own constraint.
- (b) Incorrect. Statement 1 (technology access) is also correct, so '2 only' is incomplete.
- (c) Incorrect. Statement 3's blame-shifting claim is not treated as a genuine 'limitation of India' here, so '1 and 3' is wrong.
- (d) Incorrect. Statement 3 is not accurate in this context, so 'all three' cannot be correct.
Key point
India's genuine limitations in mitigating global warming are TECHNOLOGY ACCESS GAPS and LIMITED R&D INVESTMENT CAPACITY — not the claim about developed countries relocating polluting industries to India, which is a separate political argument.
Remember
India's climate-mitigation limitations: insufficient alternate technologies and inability to invest huge R&D funds — NOT the 'developed countries' polluting industries' claim.
Common mistakes
- Treating a political blame-shifting argument as equivalent to a genuine self-capacity limitation.
- Missing that both technology and R&D funding constraints are real, India-specific limitations.
- Not distinguishing 'limitations of India' from broader global equity debates about historical emissions.
Exam tip
India's real mitigation limitations: technology access + R&D funding capacity. The 'developed countries polluting here' claim is a separate blame-shifting argument, not a self-capacity limitation.
Sources
- Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India — National Action Plan on Climate Change (2008)
- Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India — India's GHG Emissions Profile: Results of Five Climate Modelling Studies (2009)