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UPSC Prelims 2025, Question 34

The concept being tested: Article 6 of Paris Agreement — carbon markets and cooperative mechanisms.

Consider the following statements: Statement I: Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on climate change is frequently discussed in global discussions on sustainable development and climate change. Statement II: Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on climate change sets out the principles of carbon markets. Statement III: Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on climate change intends to promote inter-country non-market strategies to reach their climate targets. Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

Options

  1. ABoth Statement II and Statement III are correct and both of them explain Statement ICorrect answer
  2. BBoth Statement II and Statement III are correct but only one of them explains Statement I
  3. COnly one of the Statements II and III is correct and that explains Statement I
  4. DNeither Statement II nor Statement III is correct

The answer: Both Statement II and Statement III are correct and both of them explain Statement I

Article 6 of the Paris Agreement is not limited to carbon markets. It has three operative pillars: Article 6.2, which lets Parties trade Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) through bilateral cooperative approaches; Article 6.4, which sets up a UN-supervised centralised crediting mechanism, the successor to the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism, whose standards were finalised at COP29 in Baku; and Article 6.8, which establishes a framework for non-market approaches (NMAs), helping Parties meet their Nationally Determined Contributions through means other than emissions trading, such as coordinated fiscal and regulatory support, capacity building and technology transfer. Because Article 6 spans both carbon markets (Statement II) and non-market cooperation (Statement III), it stays central to every COP negotiation on implementing the Agreement, which is exactly why it dominates global discussions on sustainable development and climate change, as Statement I claims.

What UPSC was testing

UPSC is testing whether aspirants know Article 6 is not solely about carbon markets. Many candidates forget Article 6.8's non-market approaches provision even exists, which is the trap built into Statement III, and the three-statement explains-format then punishes anyone who eliminates it too quickly.

How often this comes up

This concept has appeared 6 times in UPSC Prelims General Studies Paper I between 2015 and 2025 — in 2015, 2016, 2024 and 2025.

The option-by-option autopsy for this question — why each of the other three is wrong, and which neighbouring concept each one was built from — is in the app.

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