Climate Change
Climate change for UPSC: greenhouse effect and gases, IPCC findings, the UNFCCC, Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement, COP milestones, India's NDCs and the NAPCC.
SyllabusGS III · General issues on climate change (Prelims); conservation, environmental pollution and degradation (GS III)
Climate change sits at the meeting point of science, economics and diplomacy, and UPSC tests all three. You need the physical basis (why greenhouse gases warm the planet), the global regime (who must do what under which treaty) and India’s own commitments and missions.
What UPSC asks
- Prelims: greenhouse gases and their relative warming potential; IPCC facts; UNFCCC annexes; Kyoto mechanisms; articles and features of the Paris Agreement; outcomes of particular COPs; India’s NDC targets and the eight NAPCC missions.
- Mains GS III: climate justice and common but differentiated responsibilities, climate finance, loss and damage, India’s energy transition, adaptation in agriculture and coastal areas.
Key sub-topics
| Sub-topic | What to master |
|---|---|
| Science | Greenhouse effect, GHGs, global warming potential, feedbacks, IPCC AR6 |
| Global regime | UNFCCC (1992), Kyoto Protocol (1997), Paris Agreement (2015) |
| COP milestones | Copenhagen, Cancun, Warsaw, Paris, Glasgow, Sharm el-Sheikh, Dubai, Baku |
| Finance and markets | Green Climate Fund, loss and damage fund, Article 6 carbon markets |
| India | NDCs (2015, updated 2022), net zero by 2070, NAPCC and its eight missions |
The Montreal Protocol’s Kigali Amendment on HFCs, which also matters for climate, is covered in International Environmental Conventions. For the physical geography of the atmosphere, see Climatology.