What does the above passage imply?
- (a) Resource-based conflicts are always politically motivated.
- (b) There are no political solutions to resolve environmental and resource-based conflicts.
- (c) Environmental issues contribute to resource stresses and political conflict. ✓ UPSC's answer
- (d) Political conflict based on identity or ideology cannot be resolved.
Why the answer is (c)
• The passage states that climate change causes or amplifies events that hasten the reduction of resources.
• It explicitly links this reduction to competition over diminishing resources, which ensues in the form of political or violent conflict.
• Therefore, the passage implies that environmental issues (climate change) contribute to resource stresses, which in turn lead to political conflict.
• This direct causal chain supports option (c) as the correct implication.
Why the other options are wrong
- (a) Resource-based conflicts are always politically motivated.
- The passage states that resource-based conflicts are 'rarely overt' and take on 'veneers' that appear politically palatable, not that they are 'always' politically motivated.
- (b) There are no political solutions to resolve environmental and resource-based conflicts.
- The passage does not claim that political solutions are impossible; it only describes how conflicts are often cloaked in identity or ideology.
- (d) Political conflict based on identity or ideology cannot be resolved.
- The passage mentions that conflicts are often cloaked in identity or ideology but does not state that such conflicts cannot be resolved.
Asked in the CSAT Paper II of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2017, held on 18 June 2017. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.