UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Document on “Strategy for Environmental Economic Accounts in India 2026-2030”

Q1. With reference to the two parts of the UN System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA), the Central Framework (SEEA-CF) and Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EA), consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. SEEA-CF records individual environmental assets such as timber, minerals and water, rather than ecosystems treated as spatial units.
  2. SEEA-EA records ecosystem services only in physical terms and leaves their monetary values outside the framework.
  3. The monetary valuation chapters of SEEA-EA have the same status of international statistical standard as its physical accounts.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 1 only
  • D. 2 and 3 only

Q2. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. Ecosystem accounts under SEEA Ecosystem Accounting can be compiled for a sub-national unit such as a river basin or a protected area, and not only for the country as a whole.
  2. SEEA Ecosystem Accounting treats ecosystems as spatial areas and organises accounts of their extent and condition by area.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q3. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. Under the 2008 System of National Accounts, a country that rapidly ran down its mineral reserves could still report a rising net domestic product.
  2. The 2008 System of National Accounts recorded the depletion of non-produced natural resources as a cost of production.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q4. With reference to an asset account for a natural resource such as groundwater or a mineral under the SEEA Central Framework, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. It shows the stock of the resource at the beginning and at the end of the accounting period, and the changes in between.
  2. It records changes in the stock caused not only by economic activity such as extraction but also by natural processes.
  3. The same resource stock can be presented in physical units as well as in monetary units.
  • A. 2 and 3 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 1 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q5. Consider the following services provided by ecosystems: Which of the above are classified as regulating services in ecosystem accounting?

  1. Pollination of crops by wild insects
  2. Sequestration of carbon by forests
  3. Filtration of water by wetlands
  4. Fish caught from coastal waters
  • A. 1, 2 and 3 only
  • B. 2, 3 and 4 only
  • C. 1, 2, 3 and 4
  • D. 1 and 2 only

Q6. Between two years, the area of a wetland stays the same, but its water quality and bird diversity decline sharply. With reference to SEEA Ecosystem Accounting, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Because the wetland's area is unchanged, both its ecosystem extent account and its ecosystem condition account will show no change.
  2. A fall in the water purification provided by the wetland can be recorded in the physical ecosystem services account even though no market price exists for it.
  3. The monetary value of the wetland as an ecosystem asset can fall even though its area is unchanged.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q7. A State Government wishes to compile its own environmental accounts for forests and water resources, using MoSPI's 2026–30 strategy as a template. In this context, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The Collection of Statistics Act, 2008 empowers State Governments, and not only the Central Government, to collect statistics.
  2. The State must first obtain the approval of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, since environmental data collection is vested in that Ministry.
  3. Inquiries and statistics for matters in the State List and the Concurrent List are themselves an entry in the Concurrent List.
  • A. 2 and 3 only
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 1 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3