Which of the following statements is/are correct about 'Action for Climate Empowerment' (ACE)? 1. It is a term adopted by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. 2. This term is related to the Paris Agreement. Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- (a)1 only
- (b)2 only
- (c)Both 1 and 2
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2
Correct — C, Both 1 and 2. The UNFCCC's own page on the subject settles both statements in a single sentence: Action for Climate Empowerment is a term adopted by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to denote work under Article 6 of the Convention and Article 12 of the Paris Agreement. Statement 1 is therefore true by definition — the term is the Convention's own coinage. Statement 2 is true because Article 12 of the Paris Agreement carries the same commitments forward, requiring Parties to cooperate in enhancing climate change education, training, public awareness, public participation and public access to information.
- (a)1 only — Drops the Paris link, but ACE is explicitly defined as covering work under Article 12 of the Paris Agreement as well as Article 6 of the Convention. The Glasgow work programme on ACE and the four-year action plan adopted at COP27 were taken under both instruments.
- (b)2 only — Drops the Convention link, which is where the term originates. ACE was coined by the UNFCCC to name the cluster of obligations in Article 6 of the Convention, agreed in 1992 — long before Paris.
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2 — Rejects both, but ACE is a formal UNFCCC term with a standing agenda item, a work programme and a dedicated network of national focal points.
Action for Climate Empowerment is the name the UNFCCC gives to the people-facing side of climate action, as against the emissions-and-finance side. It covers six elements — climate change education, public awareness, training, public participation, public access to information, and international cooperation on these issues — and its stated goal is to empower all members of society to engage in climate action.
The two legal anchors are worth keeping straight. Article 6 of the 1992 Convention obliges Parties to promote education and public awareness programmes, public access to information, public participation, and the training of scientific, technical and managerial personnel. Article 12 of the 2015 Paris Agreement restates the same list in a single sentence and ties it to enhancing action under the Agreement. That is why both statements in this item are true at once — the term belongs to the Convention and the substance runs through Paris. One caution: Article 6 of the Convention and Article 6 of the Paris Agreement are different things entirely. The Paris Article 6 is about carbon markets and cooperative approaches, and UPSC has itself tested that provision. On the timeline, the Doha work programme on Article 6 ran from 2012, the Glasgow work programme on ACE was adopted at COP26 in 2021 for ten years, and a four-year ACE action plan under it followed at COP27 in 2022.
- UNFCCC verbatim: ACE 'is a term adopted by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to denote work under Article 6 of the Convention and Article 12 of the Paris Agreement'.
- The six ACE elements are education, public awareness, training, public participation, public access to information, and international cooperation on these matters.
- Article 12 of the Paris Agreement: Parties shall cooperate to enhance climate change education, training, public awareness, public participation and public access to information.
- The Glasgow work programme on ACE was adopted at COP26 in 2021 and runs for ten years; a four-year ACE action plan under it was adopted at COP27 in 2022.
- Article 6 of the Convention is about empowerment; Article 6 of the Paris Agreement is about carbon markets — the numbers coincide, the subjects do not.
Both statements in the question are true because ACE straddles two instruments by design.
- Confusing Article 6 of the Convention with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
- Assuming a term coined under the Convention cannot also apply under Paris.
- Reading a two-statement item as though only one statement can be true.
Asked as a two-statement code item on a UNFCCC term, where both statements are true and the temptation is to reject one for looking too easy.
Consider the following statements : Statement I : Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on climate change is frequently discussed in global discussions on sustainable development and climate change. Statement II : Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on climate change sets out the principles of carbon markets. Statement III : Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on climate change intends to promote the transfer of technology for the developing countries to fulfil their climate goals.
- (a) Both Statement II and Statement III are correct and both of them explain Statement I
- (b) Both Statement II and Statement III are correct but only one of them explains Statement I
- (c) Only one of the Statements II and III is correct and that explains Statement I
- (d) Neither Statement II nor Statement III is correct
Answer(a) Both Statement II and Statement III are correct and both of them explain Statement I
The article number that most often trips candidates here. UPSC's item is about Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which governs carbon markets and cooperative approaches; the empowerment provisions this CAPF item is about are Article 6 of the Convention and Article 12 of Paris.
What is 'Climate Neutral Now' initiative? 1. It encourages organizations and other interested stakeholders to act now in order to achieve a carbon neutral world by 2030. 2. It derives its aims from the Paris Agreement. Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer(b) 2 only
The next question on the very same paper, on another UNFCCC secretariat initiative. Both items reward reading the organisation's own pages: this one because both statements match them exactly, the other because a single date does not.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following is not among the six elements of Action for Climate Empowerment?
- (a)Climate change education
- (b)Public participation
- (c)Carbon pricing
- (d)Public access to information
Answer(c) Carbon pricing — the six elements are education, public awareness, training, public participation, public access to information and international cooperation on these issues.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Glasgow work programme on Action for Climate Empowerment was adopted at which one of the following?
- (a)COP21
- (b)COP24
- (c)COP26
- (d)COP28
Answer(c) COP26 — adopted at Glasgow in 2021 for a ten-year period, with a four-year action plan agreed at COP27.