UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — COP31 hosts Australia and Türkiye face the fossil-fuel question
Q1. Under the shared-responsibility model agreed for COP31 (Antalya, November 2026), who holds exclusive authority over the conduct of the negotiations?
- A. The COP31 President from Türkiye, who also leads the summit's Action Agenda
- B. The Climate High-Level Champion appointed by the Turkish Presidency
- C. An Australian minister designated as the COP31 President of Negotiations
- D. The UNFCCC Executive Secretary, acting through the Bonn secretariat
Q2. Consider the following statements comparing the COP31 arrangement with earlier practice:
1. In earlier COPs, when the physical host differed from the country holding the Presidency, the split was only for logistical reasons.
2. At COP31, Türkiye both hosts the summit and leads the Action Agenda, while Australia leads the negotiations.
3. Whereas the summit will be held in Türkiye, the Pre-COP (5–8 October 2026) is being delivered by Türkiye in partnership with Fiji and Tuvalu.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- In earlier COPs, when the physical host differed from the country holding the Presidency, the split was only for logistical reasons.
- At COP31, Türkiye both hosts the summit and leads the Action Agenda, while Australia leads the negotiations.
- Whereas the summit will be held in Türkiye, the Pre-COP (5–8 October 2026) is being delivered by Türkiye in partnership with Fiji and Tuvalu.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q3. The text of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was first adopted at which one of the following?
- A. The Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro, June 1992
- B. The first Conference of the Parties, Berlin, 1995
- C. The seat of the UNFCCC secretariat, Bonn, 1996
- D. The United Nations Headquarters, New York, May 1992
Q4. Under Article 23 of the UNFCCC, how many instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession had to be deposited before the Convention entered into force in March 1994?
Q5. Under the core New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) agreed at COP29, Baku, how much climate finance a year is to flow to developing countries, and by when?
- A. USD 300 billion a year by 2035
- B. USD 1.3 trillion a year by 2035
- C. USD 100 billion a year by 2025
- D. USD 300 billion a year by 2030
Q6. In the context of the Paris Agreement, the 'Global Stocktake' refers to:
- A. an annual audit that legally obliges every Party to raise its NDC target in the very next year
- B. a one-time review, confined exclusively to mitigation, that replaced national pledges with a single global cap
- C. a five-yearly assessment of the collective progress of Parties towards the Agreement's long-term goals
- D. a mandatory inventory requiring all Parties to fully phase out every fossil fuel by 2030
Q7. Which one of the following UN climate conference outcomes was the first to recognise the need for Parties to move away from oil, gas and coal as a whole in energy systems?
- A. The Glasgow Climate Pact, COP26
- B. The Paris Agreement, COP21
- C. The New Collective Quantified Goal decision, COP29
- D. The first Global Stocktake decision, COP28
Q8. In the Glasgow Climate Pact's call to 'phase down unabated coal power', the qualifier 'unabated' refers to:
- A. coal-fired power generated without technologies to capture or control its emissions
- B. coal-fired power from plants commissioned after the Paris Agreement took effect
- C. coal burnt in industries such as steel and cement, outside the power sector
- D. coal-fired power not yet covered by a Party's nationally determined contribution
Q9. Which of the following are correctly identified as features of the Paris Agreement?
1. A goal of holding warming well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels
2. Each Party is expected to submit an updated NDC every five years
3. A global stocktake held first in 2023 and every ten years thereafter
4. Implementation reflecting common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- A goal of holding warming well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels
- Each Party is expected to submit an updated NDC every five years
- A global stocktake held first in 2023 and every ten years thereafter
- Implementation reflecting common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities
- A. 1 and 3 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1, 2 and 4
- D. 3 and 4 only
Q10. A 43% cut in greenhouse-gas emissions below 2005 levels by 2030, together with net zero by 2050, has been given statutory backing by which one of the following?
- A. Türkiye's 2053 Long-Term Climate Strategy
- B. Australia's Climate Change Act, 2022
- C. Türkiye's updated first NDC, 2023
- D. Australia's second NDC for 2035, 2025
Q11. In May 2026, the UN General Assembly adopted a Vanuatu-led resolution backing the ICJ's advisory opinion on States' climate-change obligations. How many member states voted in favour?
Q12. Consider the following statements comparing loss-and-damage arrangements under the UNFCCC:
1. The Warsaw International Mechanism was set up at COP19 (2013), whereas the Santiago Network was set up at COP25 (2019).
2. The Fund for responding to Loss and Damage is to be hosted by the World Bank as a financial intermediary fund on a permanent basis, with the Bank hosting its secretariat and serving as trustee.
3. Unlike the Warsaw Mechanism, the Fund supports exclusively Small Island Developing States, and only for sudden-onset extreme weather events.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The Warsaw International Mechanism was set up at COP19 (2013), whereas the Santiago Network was set up at COP25 (2019).
- The Fund for responding to Loss and Damage is to be hosted by the World Bank as a financial intermediary fund on a permanent basis, with the Bank hosting its secretariat and serving as trustee.
- Unlike the Warsaw Mechanism, the Fund supports exclusively Small Island Developing States, and only for sudden-onset extreme weather events.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3