With reference to the Agreement at the UNFCCC Meeting in Paris in 2015, which of the following statements is/are correct? Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Answer: (b) 2 only

Only the 2 °C / 1.5 °C goal is right.

Statement by statement

1. ✗ WRONG Not every UN member signed at once, and it came into force in November 2016, not 2017.

2. ✓ CORRECT It aims to keep warming well below 2 °C and pursue 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.

3. ✗ WRONG The finance goal is $100 billion a year, not $1,000 billion; and it is not framed as a “donation” for historical responsibility.

The idea

The Paris Agreement has one temperature goal: keep warming well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and try for 1.5°C. Each of the other two statements changes one detail of a true fact: the year it came into force and the size of the finance promise.

Adopted at COP21, December 2015 → Opened for signature, April 2016 → Needed 55 countries with 55% of world emissions → Came into force on 4 November 2016 → India ratified on 2 October 2016

Why the others are wrong

(c) Accepts $1,000 billion — the real figure was $100 billion.

The trap

Statement 3 adds one zero: $100 billion becomes $1,000 billion.

Elimination technique

Statement 1 says “signed by all the member countries”. Absolute words such as all, only and cannot usually mark the false statement in Environment PYQs. That removes (a) and (d).

Also know

The Agreement is a legally binding treaty, but the targets inside each NDC are not binding; what is binding is the duty to submit an NDC and report on it. The finance promise was 100 billion dollars a year. The text speaks of “mobilising” money, not of donations.