Environment & Ecology
Climate Change
GS Paper III
Climate Change — Quick Revision
One-page UPSC revision of climate change: greenhouse gases and GWP, IPCC, UNFCCC annexes, Kyoto and Paris, COP milestones, India's NDCs and NAPCC missions.
SyllabusGS III · General issues on climate change (Prelims); conservation, environmental pollution and degradation (GS III)
A last-week revision sheet for climate change. Prelims mixes science (gases, potency) with diplomacy (which COP did what).
Science
| Item | Key fact |
|---|---|
| Natural greenhouse effect | Without it, average surface temperature about −18 °C instead of about 15 °C |
| CO₂ concentration | About 280 ppm pre-industrial; above 420 ppm in recent annual averages (NOAA Mauna Loa, 2023–24) |
| Warming | About 1.1 °C in 2011–2020 over 1850–1900 (IPCC AR6) |
| Kyoto basket | CO₂, CH₄, N₂O, HFCs, PFCs, SF₆ (+ NF₃ under the Doha Amendment) |
| GWP (AR5, 100-yr) | CH₄ about 28; N₂O about 265; SF₆ about 23,500 |
| Short-lived climate pollutants | Black carbon, methane, tropospheric ozone, HFCs |
| Ocean acidification | Absorbed CO₂ forms carbonic acid; harms corals and shell-builders |
Treaties
| Instrument | Adopted | In force | Key feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNFCCC | 1992 (Rio) | 21 March 1994 | CBDR-RC; Annex I, Annex II, non-Annex I; Bonn secretariat |
| Kyoto Protocol | 1997 (COP3) | 16 February 2005 | Binding targets for Annex B; CDM, JI, emissions trading |
| Doha Amendment | 2012 | 31 December 2020 | Second commitment period 2013–2020 |
| Paris Agreement | 2015 (COP21) | 4 November 2016 | Well below 2 °C, pursue 1.5 °C; NDCs from all; GST every five years |
Paris Agreement Articles
| Article | Subject |
|---|---|
| 2 | Temperature, adaptation and finance goals |
| 4 | NDCs |
| 6 | Cooperative approaches and carbon markets |
| 7 | Adaptation |
| 8 | Loss and damage |
| 9 | Finance |
| 13 | Transparency framework |
| 14 | Global Stocktake |
COP Milestones
| COP | Outcome |
|---|---|
| 1 — Berlin, 1995 | Berlin Mandate |
| 3 — Kyoto, 1997 | Kyoto Protocol |
| 15 — Copenhagen, 2009 | USD 100 billion a year by 2020 goal |
| 16 — Cancun, 2010 | Green Climate Fund |
| 19 — Warsaw, 2013 | Loss and damage mechanism; REDD+ framework |
| 21 — Paris, 2015 | Paris Agreement |
| 26 — Glasgow, 2021 | Coal “phase-down”; India’s net zero 2070 |
| 27 — Sharm el-Sheikh, 2022 | Loss and damage fund agreed |
| 28 — Dubai, 2023 | First Global Stocktake; transition away from fossil fuels |
| 29 — Baku, 2024 | Finance goal: at least USD 300 billion a year by 2035 |
India
| Item | Key fact |
|---|---|
| Updated NDC (August 2022) | 45% cut in emissions intensity of GDP by 2030 (2005 base); about 50% non-fossil installed capacity by 2030; 2.5–3 Gt CO₂e sink; LiFE |
| Net zero | 2070 |
| NAPCC (2008) | Solar, Energy Efficiency, Sustainable Habitat, Water, Himalayan Ecosystem, Green India, Sustainable Agriculture, Strategic Knowledge |
| Carbon market | Energy Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2022; Carbon Credit Trading Scheme, 2023 |
| Paris ratification | 2 October 2016 |
High-yield facts
- IPCC: 1988, WMO + UNEP; assesses, does not research; Nobel Peace Prize 2007.
- Annex II = OECD members of Annex I, with finance obligations.
- REDD+ is not a Kyoto mechanism.
- Paris NDC submission is binding; meeting the target is not penalised.
Traps
- Green Climate Fund was set up at Cancun (2010), not Copenhagen.
- India’s net zero year is 2070, not 2050.
- One year above 1.5 °C is not a formal breach of the Paris goal.
Related Topics
- Climate Change: Science, the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement
- Climate Change — practice questions
- International Environmental Conventions — quick revision
- All quick revision sheets
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