UPSC Prelims 2025 CSAT Paper II · Q71 of 78 Comprehension medium

Passage

Directions for the following 4 (four) items : Read the following two passages and answer the items that follow the passages. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only. Passage – 1 Over the next 30 years, many countries are promising to move to net-zero carbon, implying that household emissions will have to be cut to close to nothing. A leading climate scientist reckons that, at best, half the reduction might be achieved through demand-side measures, such as behavioural changes by individuals and households. And even that would require companies and governments to provide more incentives to change through supply-side investments to make low-carbon options cheaper and more widely available.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the central idea conveyed by the passage ?

  1. (a) Moving to net-zero carbon is possible only by the reduction in household emissions.
  2. (b) Low-carbon behaviour in people can be brought about by incentivising them. ✓ UPSC's answer
  3. (c) Cheaper goods and services can be made available to people by using low-carbon technologies.
  4. (d) Manufacturing industries that use low-carbon technologies should be provided with subsidies.

Why the answer is (b)

• The passage states that achieving net-zero carbon requires cutting household emissions to close to nothing.

• It notes that at best, half of this reduction can be achieved through demand-side measures, specifically behavioral changes by individuals and households.

• The text explicitly links these behavioral changes to the need for companies and governments to provide more incentives.

• Therefore, the central idea is that incentivizing people is the mechanism to bring about the necessary low-carbon behavior.

• Option (b) accurately captures this relationship between incentives and behavioral change as the core argument.

Why the other options are wrong

(a) Moving to net-zero carbon is possible only by the reduction in household emissions.
The passage states that only half the reduction might come from demand-side measures, implying that supply-side investments are also required, not that it is possible 'only' by household reduction.
(c) Cheaper goods and services can be made available to people by using low-carbon…
The passage discusses making low-carbon options cheaper to influence behavior, not the general availability of cheaper goods and services as the central theme.
(d) Manufacturing industries that use low-carbon technologies should be provided with…
The passage mentions supply-side investments to make options cheaper but does not specifically advocate for subsidies to manufacturing industries as the central idea.

Asked in the CSAT Paper II of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2025, held on 25 May 2025. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.

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