UPSC Prelims 2022 GS Paper I · Q41 of 98 Environment & Ecology easy

"Climate Action Tracker" which monitors the emission reduction pledges of different countries is a :

  1. (a) Database created by coalition of research organisations ✓ UPSC's answer
  2. (b) Wing of "International Panel of Climate Change"
  3. (c) Committee under "United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change"
  4. (d) Agency promoted and financed by United Nations Environment Programme and World Bank

Why the answer is (a)

• The Climate Action Tracker is an independent scientific project run by a consortium of research organisations — Climate Analytics and the NewClimate Institute — that rates countries' climate pledges and policies against the Paris Agreement goals — option (a).

• It publishes assessments such as 'highly insufficient' or 'compatible with 1.5 °C' for each country, including India.

• It is not part of the IPCC (which assesses science, not national pledges), nor a UNFCCC committee, nor a UNEP–World Bank agency.

• Its projections of warming under current policies are widely cited at COP meetings.

• Hence option (a).

Why the other options are wrong

(b) Wing of "International Panel of Climate Change"
The IPCC assesses climate science; it does not run the Tracker.
(c) Committee under "United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change"
The Tracker is independent of the UNFCCC.
(d) Agency promoted and financed by United Nations Environment Programme and World Bank
It is not a UNEP or World Bank agency.

Asked in the GS Paper I of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2022, held on 5 June 2022. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.

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