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UPSC Prelims 2010 · Environment · Warming World
What are the possible limitations of India in mitigating global warming at present and in the immediate future? Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- Appropriate alternate technologies are not sufficiently available
- India cannot invest huge funds in research and development
- Many developed countries have already set up their polluting industries in India
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) 1 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer and explanation
Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only
Technology and R&D funding were the real limits.
Statement by statement
1. ✓ CORRECT Clean technologies were limited and costly to import.
2. ✓ CORRECT India could not spend huge sums on research then.
3. ✗ WRONG The claim that developed countries had already shifted polluting industries to India is not a recognised limitation.
The idea
Cutting emissions needs two things: clean technology and the money to develop or buy it. In 2010 India had too little of both. This is the basis of common but differentiated responsibilities: rich countries caused most of the past emissions and hold the technology, so they must give finance and technology to developing countries.
Mitigation needs clean technology → Most patents are held in developed countries → Buying is costly; developing at home needs large research budgets → India’s first claim on money is poverty and energy access → So technology and research funds are the limits
The trap
Statement 3 sounds like a familiar grievance, but it is not a mitigation limit.
Also know
The UNFCCC has a Technology Mechanism for this purpose: the Technology Executive Committee and the Climate Technology Centre and Network. The idea in statement 3 has a name, the pollution haven hypothesis (dirty industries move to countries with weak rules), but it is not a recognised limit on India’s mitigation.
🔒 India’s mitigation limits (2010): technology access, finance, R&D.