Class 12 Political Science Chapter 6 Question Answer | Environment and Natural Resources | English Medium

Class 12 Political Science Chapter 6 Question Answer | Environment and Natural Resources | English Medium | ASSEB

Welcome to HSLC Guru. This article presents complete English-medium notes and question-answers for ASSEB Class 12 Political Science (Contemporary World Politics — Part A) Chapter 6, “Environment and Natural Resources.” It covers the rise of global environmental concerns, the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, Agenda 21, the Kyoto Protocol, the resource geopolitics of oil and water, indigenous peoples’ rights, and India’s environmental movements such as Chipko and the Narmada Bachao Andolan. Use it as a structured revision guide for HS Final examinations.

About the Chapter

The chapter “Environment and Natural Resources” examines how environmental issues have moved to the centre of world politics. Pollution, deforestation, ozone depletion, climate change, and the unequal distribution of natural resources are now treated as security and justice concerns, not merely scientific problems. Students learn how international cooperation evolved through major conferences and treaties, how oil and fresh water have become flashpoints of geopolitics, why indigenous peoples claim a special stake in protecting biodiversity, and how grassroots movements in India have shaped the global discussion on sustainable development.

Summary

Environmental protection has become one of the most pressing global concerns of contemporary politics. Cultivable land is shrinking, water bodies are drying or polluted, fisheries are over-harvested, and biodiversity is being lost at unprecedented rates. The ozone layer over Antarctica is depleted, and coastal regions face threats from rising sea levels caused by global warming. These problems do not respect national borders, so they require collective international action.

Awareness grew through the Club of Rome’s “Limits to Growth” (1972), the UN Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm, 1972), and the establishment of UNEP. The 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development at Rio de Janeiro — the Earth Summit — was a turning point. It produced conventions on climate change and biodiversity and adopted Agenda 21, a non-binding action plan for sustainable development in the twenty-first century. Critics argue that Agenda 21 emphasised economic growth over ecological protection.

The Kyoto Protocol of 1997 set binding targets for industrialised countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions, recognising that developed states had historically polluted more and therefore bore “common but differentiated responsibilities.” Developing nations such as India and China were exempted from binding cuts. Resource geopolitics is increasingly shaped by the global competition for oil — the most strategic of fossil fuels, concentrated in the Gulf — and for fresh water, with rivers shared by multiple states (Tigris-Euphrates, Jordan, Indus, Nile) becoming sources of “water wars.”

Indigenous peoples — about 300 million worldwide — claim rights to their ancestral lands and traditional knowledge, and have organised through the World Council of Indigenous Peoples (1975) and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007). India hosts dynamic environmental movements: the Chipko Andolan (1973, Uttarakhand) saw villagers hugging trees to stop commercial logging; the Narmada Bachao Andolan led by Medha Patkar opposed displacement caused by big dams on the Narmada; and the anti-Tehri-dam and Save Silent Valley movements similarly fused ecology with social justice. Together these struggles redefine development as a question of equity, sustainability, and democratic participation.

সাৰাংশ (Assamese Summary)

সাম্প্ৰতিক বিশ্ব ৰাজনীতিৰ অন্যতম প্ৰধান বিষয় হৈছে পৰিবেশ সুৰক্ষা। কৃষিযোগ্য মাটিৰ পৰিমাণ হ্ৰাস পাইছে, পানীৰ উৎস শুকাই গৈছে বা প্ৰদূষিত হৈছে, মাছৰ ভাণ্ডাৰ কমিছে আৰু জৈৱ-বৈচিত্ৰ্য বিপন্ন। এন্টাৰক্টিকাৰ ওপৰৰ অজোন স্তৰৰ ক্ষয়, বিশ্ব উষ্ণায়ন আৰু সমুদ্ৰ-পৃষ্ঠৰ উচ্চতা বৃদ্ধি — এই সকলো সমস্যাই ৰাষ্ট্ৰৰ সীমা নামানে, গতিকে এইবোৰৰ সমাধান আন্তৰ্জাতিক সহযোগিতাৰ যোগেদিহে সম্ভৱ।

১৯৭২ চনৰ ষ্টকহোম সন্মিলন আৰু ১৯৯২ চনৰ ৰিঅ’ পৃথিৱী শীৰ্ষ সন্মিলনে পৰিবেশ ৰক্ষাক বিশ্ব এজেণ্ডাত স্থাপন কৰিলে। ৰিঅ’ সন্মিলনে জলবায়ু পৰিবৰ্তন আৰু জৈৱ-বৈচিত্ৰ্য সম্পৰ্কে চুক্তি গ্ৰহণ কৰিলে আৰু অজেণ্ডা ২১ নামৰ কাৰ্য পৰিকল্পনা গ্ৰহণ কৰিলে। ১৯৯৭ চনৰ ক্যোটো প্ৰটোকলে উন্নত ৰাষ্ট্ৰসমূহক হ্ৰীণহাউছ গেছ নিৰ্গমন হ্ৰাস কৰাৰ লক্ষ্য নিৰ্ধাৰণ কৰিলে। তেল আৰু খোৱাপানীৰ কাৰণে সম্পদ-ৰাজনীতি তীব্ৰ হৈছে, আদিবাসী জনগোষ্ঠীয়ে নিজৰ ভূমি আৰু পৰম্পৰাগত জ্ঞানৰ অধিকাৰ দাবী কৰিছে। ভাৰতত চিপকো আন্দোলন, নৰ্মদা বচাও আন্দোলন আদিয়ে পৰিবেশ ৰক্ষা আৰু সমাজিক ন্যায়ৰ প্ৰশ্নক একেলগে স্থাপন কৰিছে।

NCERT Textbook Questions and Answers

1. Which of the following statements about the environmental movement is FALSE?
(a) Environmental movements are among the most vibrant and the most diverse of social movements across the world.
(b) Environmental movements are found in the developed countries of the global North as well as in the developing countries of the global South.
(c) Environmentalists have advocated forest reform in countries of the global South.
(d) Environmental movements have raised the question of economic inequalities of the global North.

Answer: (d) Environmental movements have raised the question of economic inequalities of the global North — this is the false statement. Environmental movements have largely highlighted ecological injustice in the global South rather than internal economic inequalities of the North.

2. Which among the following best explains the cause of conflicts over water among nations?
(a) The water resources are unequally distributed across regions.
(b) Water is increasingly becoming scarce.
(c) Many rivers are shared by more than one country.
(d) All the above.

Answer: (d) All the above. Unequal distribution, growing scarcity, and shared transboundary rivers together explain why water has become a source of inter-state tension.

3. What is meant by the global commons? How is it exploited?

Answer: The “global commons” refers to those areas and resources that lie outside the sovereign jurisdiction of any single state and therefore belong to humanity as a whole. They include the high seas, the atmosphere, outer space, and Antarctica. Because no one owns them, every state is tempted to use them freely while bearing little of the cost of their degradation — a situation known as the “tragedy of the commons.” Examples of exploitation include over-fishing on the high seas, the dumping of pollutants into the atmosphere, the production of space debris in Earth orbit, and competing claims for mineral exploration in Antarctica. Cooperative agreements such as the Antarctic Treaty (1959), the Montreal Protocol (1987), and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea attempt to regulate this exploitation.

4. What is meant by “common but differentiated responsibilities”? How should we apply it to global environmental issues?

Answer: The principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” was articulated at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. It accepts that all states share a common duty to protect the global environment, but recognises that they do not bear equal responsibility for past damage. Developed countries industrialised earlier and emitted the bulk of greenhouse gases; they therefore have a heavier obligation to cut emissions and to fund clean technology in developing nations. Applied to climate negotiations, the principle means that countries such as the USA, the EU members, and Japan should take the lead in absolute emission cuts, while emerging economies like India and China should be allowed space to grow and lift their populations out of poverty. The Kyoto Protocol of 1997 implemented this idea by exempting developing countries from binding emission targets.

5. Why are environmental concerns becoming part of world politics? Explain with a few examples.

Answer: Environmental concerns have entered world politics because the major problems are inherently transnational and threaten human survival. Examples:

Climate change: Greenhouse-gas emissions from any one country alter the global climate, requiring collective treaties such as the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol.
Ozone depletion: The hole over Antarctica forced states to negotiate the Montreal Protocol limiting CFCs.
Loss of biodiversity: Tropical deforestation in Brazil or Indonesia affects medicines, food crops, and ecological balance worldwide.
Resource scarcity: Disputes over oil in the Gulf and shared rivers like the Jordan or the Nile generate inter-state tension.
Trans-boundary pollution: Acid rain in Europe, the Chernobyl disaster, and oil spills make pollution a diplomatic issue.

Because no single state can solve these issues alone, environmental cooperation has become a permanent dimension of foreign policy.

6. What is Agenda 21? List its main objectives.

Answer: Agenda 21 is a non-binding global action plan for sustainable development adopted at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. It is a blueprint for the twenty-first century covering social, economic, and environmental dimensions. Main objectives:

Combat poverty and promote sustainable patterns of production and consumption.
Protect and manage natural resources — atmosphere, oceans, freshwater, forests, biodiversity, land.
Strengthen the role of major groups: women, youth, indigenous peoples, NGOs, local authorities, workers, business, scientific community, and farmers.
Implement at the local level through “Local Agenda 21” plans drawn up by municipal authorities.
Provide finance, technology transfer, capacity-building and international institutional cooperation for sustainable development.

Critics argue that Agenda 21 leans towards economic growth and that its non-binding nature has weakened implementation.

7. In what ways are the environmental movements changing the nature and scope of politics? Discuss with reference to environmental movements that you are familiar with.

Answer: Environmental movements have widened the political agenda by inserting issues of ecology, displacement, and inter-generational justice into mainstream debate. They challenge the conventional model of development that treats forests, rivers, and minerals as raw material for industrial growth, and demand a participatory model that respects local communities. Three illustrations from India:

Chipko Movement (1973, Uttarakhand): Led by Sunderlal Bahuguna and Chandi Prasad Bhatt, villagers — many of them women — hugged trees to stop commercial felling. The movement led to a 15-year ban on commercial logging in the Himalayan forests of Uttar Pradesh.
Narmada Bachao Andolan (1985 onwards): Led by Medha Patkar and Baba Amte, it opposes the Sardar Sarovar and other dams on the Narmada river that would displace lakhs of tribal and rural families. The movement has compelled debate over rehabilitation, environmental clearances, and the social cost of “big dams.”
Anti-Tehri Dam and Silent Valley Movements: These struggles questioned mega-projects in fragile ecosystems and contributed to legal and policy reform on environmental impact assessment.

Through such movements, politics has expanded beyond elections and parties to include grassroots activism, public-interest litigation, and global solidarity networks.

8. Discuss the political contestations caused by the dynamics of resource geopolitics.

Answer: Resource geopolitics is the politics of who gets natural resources, by what means, and at what cost. During the Cold War, the West and the Soviet Union competed for access to strategic resources, especially oil. After 1990, oil remains the single most important strategic commodity:

Oil: The Gulf region holds about two-thirds of world reserves. The Iran–Iraq War (1980–88), the 1991 Gulf War, and the 2003 Iraq War were all linked to control over oil. Pipeline politics in Central Asia and the Caspian Sea is another arena.
Water: Rivers shared by two or more states — Tigris–Euphrates between Turkey, Syria, and Iraq; the Jordan among Israel, Jordan, and Palestine; the Indus between India and Pakistan; the Nile among Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia — generate disputes over dam construction and water diversion. Analysts speak of possible “water wars.”
Minerals and timber: Diamonds in Africa (“blood diamonds”) and tropical timber in South-East Asia have funded civil wars and fuelled illicit international trade.

Contestation arises because resources are unevenly distributed, demand is rising with industrial growth, and many resources are non-renewable. Resource geopolitics therefore weaves together economic interest, security calculation, and environmental sustainability.

9. Describe the issues raised by indigenous peoples on the world stage.

Answer: The United Nations defines indigenous peoples as descendants of those who inhabited a country at the time of conquest or colonisation and who have retained their distinct social, economic, and cultural institutions. They number around 300 million worldwide — Native Americans, Aborigines of Australia, Maoris of New Zealand, the Inuit of the Arctic, the tribes of Central and South America, Africa, and Asia, and the Adivasis of India. The issues they raise include:

Recognition of their ancestral lands and resources, often lost to mining, logging, and dams.
Equal political rights, autonomy, and self-determination within sovereign states.
Protection of their languages, traditional knowledge, and cultural identity.
Compensation for past injustices including forced displacement and loss of livelihood.
Inclusion in environmental decision-making, given their historic role as stewards of forests and biodiversity.

Globally, indigenous peoples organised the World Council of Indigenous Peoples (1975) and pressed for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (adopted 2007). In India, demands centre on the Fifth and Sixth Schedules of the Constitution, the Forest Rights Act 2006, and protection from displacement.

Short Answer Questions

Q1. What is the Earth Summit?
Answer: The Earth Summit is the popular name of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. It was attended by 170 states, thousands of NGOs, and many corporations. It produced the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Rio Declaration, and Agenda 21.

Q2. Why is the Kyoto Protocol significant?
Answer: The Kyoto Protocol, signed in 1997 and in force from 2005, was the first international agreement to set legally binding targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions in industrialised countries. It operationalised the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities by exempting developing countries from binding cuts.

Q3. What was the Chipko Movement?
Answer: The Chipko Movement began in 1973 in the Mandal village of Uttarakhand when villagers, mainly women, hugged trees to prevent contractors from felling them. Led by Sunderlal Bahuguna and Chandi Prasad Bhatt, the movement combined Gandhian non-violence with ecological awareness and led to a moratorium on commercial logging in the region.

Q4. Who was Medha Patkar and what is her contribution?
Answer: Medha Patkar is a social activist who founded the Narmada Bachao Andolan in the mid-1980s. Through long marches, hunger strikes, and litigation, she has championed the cause of communities displaced by the Sardar Sarovar Project and other Narmada dams, and brought issues of rehabilitation and environmental clearance to the Supreme Court and to global attention.

Q5. What is the Montreal Protocol?
Answer: The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was signed in 1987 and is a successful environmental treaty that regulates and phases out ozone-depleting chemicals such as CFCs. It is widely regarded as a model of effective global cooperation.

Q6. Why is fresh water becoming a source of conflict?
Answer: Fresh water is unevenly distributed, the global demand is rising rapidly, and many major rivers cross national boundaries. Upper-riparian states can build dams or divert flows that affect downstream countries, generating disputes such as those over the Tigris-Euphrates, Jordan, Nile, and Indus.

Q7. What is meant by sustainable development?
Answer: Sustainable development, as defined by the Brundtland Commission Report “Our Common Future” (1987), is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” It seeks a balance among economic growth, social equity, and environmental protection.

Q8. What is the Antarctic Treaty?
Answer: Signed in 1959 and in force since 1961, the Antarctic Treaty designates Antarctica as a zone reserved for peaceful and scientific use, prohibits military activity and mineral mining, and freezes all territorial claims. It is a major instrument of the global commons regime.

Q9. What is UNEP?
Answer: The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was established in 1972 after the Stockholm Conference. Headquartered in Nairobi, it coordinates the UN’s environmental activities, monitors environmental conditions, and helps develop international agreements such as the Montreal Protocol and the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Q10. What does the World Council of Indigenous Peoples do?
Answer: Founded in 1975, the World Council of Indigenous Peoples is a transnational platform that gives indigenous communities a voice at the United Nations. It campaigns for land rights, cultural protection, and self-determination and was instrumental in the adoption of the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Long Answer Questions

Q1. Discuss the major environmental concerns that have made the environment a global political issue.
Answer: Several converging environmental crises have forced states to treat the environment as a matter of high politics. First, the steady loss of cultivable land, fresh water, and forests threatens food security and rural livelihoods. Second, atmospheric problems such as ozone depletion and global warming, caused mainly by industrial emissions, threaten the climate system that sustains agriculture and coastal life. Third, the loss of biodiversity erodes the natural base of medicines, crops, and ecological balance. Fourth, marine pollution and over-fishing degrade the oceans, while coastal regions face inundation from rising seas. Because all these problems cross borders, they cannot be solved by any single government. They have therefore generated a thick web of international agreements — Stockholm 1972, Montreal 1987, Rio 1992, Kyoto 1997, Paris 2015 — making the environment a permanent item on the global political agenda.

Q2. Examine the role of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and Agenda 21 in promoting sustainable development.
Answer: The 1992 Earth Summit, formally the UN Conference on Environment and Development, drew leaders from 170 states to Rio de Janeiro and marked the moment when “sustainable development” entered the diplomatic vocabulary. The Summit produced two binding conventions — the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity — and three non-binding instruments: the Rio Declaration, the Statement of Forest Principles, and Agenda 21. Agenda 21 is a forty-chapter blueprint covering poverty, consumption patterns, atmospheric and oceanic protection, biodiversity, the role of women, indigenous peoples, NGOs, and the business community. It introduced the idea of “Local Agenda 21,” urging municipalities to draw up their own sustainability plans, and stressed financial and technological support for developing countries. Although Agenda 21 is voluntary and has been criticised for tilting towards growth, it shaped the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals (2015) and remains the most comprehensive global framework for sustainability.

Q3. Analyse the significance of resource geopolitics in contemporary world politics with reference to oil and water.
Answer: Resource geopolitics studies the political contest for natural resources. In the contemporary period oil is the most strategically important commodity because modern industry, transport, and the military depend on it. About two-thirds of proven reserves lie in the Gulf, making the region a focus of great-power involvement, alliances, and wars — the Iran-Iraq War, the 1991 Gulf War, and the 2003 Iraq War all had oil as a key factor. Pipeline politics in Central Asia, the Caspian, and increasingly the Arctic adds further competition. Water is emerging as the next great geopolitical resource. Of the world’s 263 international river basins, many are subject to long-running disputes: Turkey’s dams on the Tigris-Euphrates affect Syria and Iraq; Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinians clash over the Jordan; Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia disagree over Nile flows; India and Pakistan rely on the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty. Some scholars warn of “water wars” in the twenty-first century. Together, oil and water demonstrate how natural resources combine economic interest, environmental limits, and security politics.

Q4. Describe India’s stand on environmental issues.
Answer: India was an active participant at Rio 1992 and a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol, which it ratified in 2002. Its central position has been “common but differentiated responsibilities”: developed countries that polluted historically must take the lead in cuts and finance technology transfer, while developing countries should retain policy space for poverty alleviation. India has launched the National Action Plan on Climate Change (2008) with eight national missions covering solar energy, energy efficiency, sustainable habitats, water, the Himalayan ecosystem, “Green India,” sustainable agriculture, and strategic knowledge. India also co-founded the International Solar Alliance and has set ambitious renewable-energy targets. At the same time it argues, with other emerging economies in BASIC and the G-77, against absolute caps that would constrain growth.

Q5. Trace the contribution of environmental movements like Chipko and Narmada Bachao Andolan in India.
Answer: The Chipko Movement of 1973 in Uttarakhand began as a protest against commercial felling of forests for sports-goods manufacturers. Led by Sunderlal Bahuguna, Chandi Prasad Bhatt, and Gaura Devi, villagers — especially women — hugged trees to stop the axes. The movement spread through the Himalayan belt, and in 1980 the Government of India imposed a 15-year ban on commercial felling in Uttar Pradesh’s hill regions. Chipko gave the world the image of the tree-hugger and inspired similar struggles in Karnataka (Appiko) and elsewhere. The Narmada Bachao Andolan, launched in 1985 by Medha Patkar, Baba Amte, and others, opposes the construction of large dams on the Narmada river — particularly the Sardar Sarovar — that would submerge lands of tribal communities and farmers in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat. The movement has used hunger strikes, padyatras, and Supreme Court petitions, securing better rehabilitation policies and pushing the World Bank to withdraw from the project in 1993. Together, these movements made ecology, displacement, and the rights of marginal communities central to Indian democracy and contributed to the global discourse on sustainable development.

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

1. The 1992 Earth Summit was held at:
(a) Stockholm (b) Rio de Janeiro (c) Kyoto (d) Johannesburg
Answer: (b) Rio de Janeiro.

2. The Kyoto Protocol was signed in:
(a) 1995 (b) 1997 (c) 2002 (d) 2005
Answer: (b) 1997.

3. UNEP was established in the year:
(a) 1962 (b) 1972 (c) 1982 (d) 1992
Answer: (b) 1972.

4. The Chipko Movement originated in:
(a) Madhya Pradesh (b) Karnataka (c) Uttarakhand (d) Kerala
Answer: (c) Uttarakhand.

5. The Narmada Bachao Andolan is led by:
(a) Sunderlal Bahuguna (b) Medha Patkar (c) Vandana Shiva (d) Anna Hazare
Answer: (b) Medha Patkar.

6. Agenda 21 deals primarily with:
(a) Disarmament (b) Sustainable development (c) Trade (d) Human rights
Answer: (b) Sustainable development.

7. The Antarctic Treaty was signed in:
(a) 1949 (b) 1959 (c) 1969 (d) 1979
Answer: (b) 1959.

8. The Montreal Protocol concerns:
(a) Climate change (b) Ozone-depleting substances (c) Biodiversity (d) Wetlands
Answer: (b) Ozone-depleting substances.

9. The principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” was enunciated at:
(a) Stockholm 1972 (b) Rio 1992 (c) Kyoto 1997 (d) Johannesburg 2002
Answer: (b) Rio 1992.

10. The Brundtland Commission Report is titled:
(a) Our Common Future (b) Limits to Growth (c) Silent Spring (d) Earth in the Balance
Answer: (a) Our Common Future.

11. “Limits to Growth” was published by:
(a) UNEP (b) Club of Rome (c) World Bank (d) WTO
Answer: (b) Club of Rome.

12. The world’s indigenous population is estimated at:
(a) 30 million (b) 100 million (c) 300 million (d) 1 billion
Answer: (c) 300 million.

13. The World Council of Indigenous Peoples was formed in:
(a) 1965 (b) 1975 (c) 1985 (d) 1995
Answer: (b) 1975.

14. The Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan was signed in:
(a) 1947 (b) 1950 (c) 1960 (d) 1972
Answer: (c) 1960.

15. The river disputed among Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia is the:
(a) Jordan (b) Tigris (c) Nile (d) Congo
Answer: (c) Nile.

16. The Convention on Biological Diversity was opened for signature at:
(a) Stockholm (b) Rio (c) Kyoto (d) Cancun
Answer: (b) Rio.

17. The “Earth Summit” had the formal name:
(a) UNCED (b) UNCTAD (c) UNCHE (d) UNDP
Answer: (a) UNCED — UN Conference on Environment and Development.

18. The Sardar Sarovar Project is located on the river:
(a) Krishna (b) Godavari (c) Narmada (d) Tapi
Answer: (c) Narmada.

19. The largest oil reserves are concentrated in:
(a) Africa (b) Latin America (c) The Gulf region (d) South-East Asia
Answer: (c) The Gulf region.

20. The Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment was held in:
(a) 1968 (b) 1970 (c) 1972 (d) 1974
Answer: (c) 1972.

21. The Save Silent Valley Movement took place in:
(a) Karnataka (b) Kerala (c) Tamil Nadu (d) Andhra Pradesh
Answer: (b) Kerala.

22. India ratified the Kyoto Protocol in:
(a) 1997 (b) 2000 (c) 2002 (d) 2005
Answer: (c) 2002.

23. The “tragedy of the commons” idea was popularised by:
(a) Rachel Carson (b) Garrett Hardin (c) Al Gore (d) Vandana Shiva
Answer: (b) Garrett Hardin.

24. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted in:
(a) 1995 (b) 2001 (c) 2007 (d) 2010
Answer: (c) 2007.

25. The Adivasi communities of India are also referred to as:
(a) Scheduled Castes (b) Scheduled Tribes (c) Other Backward Classes (d) Minorities
Answer: (b) Scheduled Tribes.

Major Environmental Conventions and Conferences

Year	Convention / Conference	Focus / Outcome
1959	Antarctic Treaty	Antarctica reserved for peaceful, scientific use; mining and military activity prohibited.
1971	Ramsar Convention	Conservation and wise use of wetlands.
1972	Stockholm Conference (UNCHE)	First major UN conference on the human environment; led to creation of UNEP.
1972	Club of Rome — Limits to Growth	Highlighted the ecological limits of unlimited economic growth.
1973	CITES	Regulates international trade in endangered species of flora and fauna.
1985 / 1987	Vienna Convention / Montreal Protocol	Global regime to phase out ozone-depleting substances such as CFCs.
1987	Brundtland Report — Our Common Future	Defined “sustainable development.”
1992	Rio Earth Summit (UNCED)	UNFCCC, Convention on Biological Diversity, Rio Declaration, Agenda 21.
1997	Kyoto Protocol	Binding emission targets for industrialised countries; in force 2005.
2002	Johannesburg Summit (Rio+10)	Reviewed Agenda 21 implementation; focus on poverty and sustainability.
2007	UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples	Recognised land, cultural, and self-determination rights of indigenous peoples.
2012	Rio+20 Conference	Adopted “The Future We Want”; foundation for SDGs.
2015	Paris Agreement	Universal framework to limit global warming to well below 2°C.

Key Terms

Term	Meaning
Sustainable Development	Development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
Global Commons	Areas and resources outside national jurisdiction — high seas, atmosphere, outer space, Antarctica.
Common but Differentiated Responsibilities	Principle that all states share environmental duties but with obligations matched to their historical contribution and capacity.
Agenda 21	Non-binding action plan for sustainable development adopted at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.
Greenhouse Effect	Trapping of solar heat by atmospheric gases such as CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O, leading to global warming.
Ozone Depletion	Thinning of the ozone layer caused mainly by CFCs, addressed by the Montreal Protocol.
Resource Geopolitics	The politics of access to and control over natural resources such as oil, water, and minerals.
Indigenous Peoples	Descendants of original inhabitants of a land who retain distinct cultural and political institutions.
Chipko Movement	1973 Uttarakhand movement of villagers, especially women, hugging trees to prevent felling.
Narmada Bachao Andolan	Movement led by Medha Patkar against displacement caused by big dams on the Narmada river.
UNEP	United Nations Environment Programme established in 1972 after the Stockholm Conference.
Kyoto Protocol	1997 treaty setting binding greenhouse-gas reduction targets for industrialised countries.
Earth Summit	1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro.
Tragedy of the Commons	Tendency of users to over-exploit a shared, unowned resource because individual gains exceed individual costs.