CDS (II) 2024 GK Q120: Which one of the following resolutions in the final

Q: What is the answer to CDS (II) 2024 GK Q120?

A. Correct — A, Fossil fuel phase-out. The outcome document of the first global stocktake, adopted at COP28 in Dubai in December 2023, sets out in paragraph 28 a list of global efforts that Parties are called on to contribute to. The 2050 date appears in exactly one of them, sub-paragraph 28(d), which speaks of transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science. That was the historic sentence of the conference — the first time a COP decision named fossil fuels as a whole. Methane sits in a different sub-paragraph and carries a different date: 28(f) calls for accelerating the substantial reduction of non-carbon-dioxide emissions globally, in particular methane emissions by 2030. The global goal on adaptation and the resilience language are dealt with in separate parts of the package and are not tied to a net-zero target at all. One honest caveat: the decision deliberately says transitioning away from rather than phase-out, since phase-out was the wording that failed to win consensus. (Provisional — pending the official UPSC key.)

CDS (II) 2024 General Knowledge · Question 120 of 120

Question text verified against the official CDS question paper.

Provisional answers. UPSC has not yet released the official CDS 2024 answer key (it is published several months after the exam). The answers here are our best-supported answers — derived from careful subject-solving and cross-checked against independent solved papers and primary sources — and will be reconciled to the official key as soon as UPSC publishes it. They are not the official UPSC answer key.

Disputed answer. Reputable sources differ on this question. We show the answer our analysis best supports and explain the disagreement below; treat it with extra caution until the official UPSC key settles it.

Which one of the following resolutions in the final agreement reached at COP28 is associated with the target of achieving 'Net Zero by 2050'?

(a)Fossil fuel phase-out
(b)Methane emission cuts
(c)Global goal on adaptation
(d)Climate resilience

Answer

Why

Correct — A, Fossil fuel phase-out. The outcome document of the first global stocktake, adopted at COP28 in Dubai in December 2023, sets out in paragraph 28 a list of global efforts that Parties are called on to contribute to. The 2050 date appears in exactly one of them, sub-paragraph 28(d), which speaks of transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science. That was the historic sentence of the conference — the first time a COP decision named fossil fuels as a whole. Methane sits in a different sub-paragraph and carries a different date: 28(f) calls for accelerating the substantial reduction of non-carbon-dioxide emissions globally, in particular methane emissions by 2030. The global goal on adaptation and the resilience language are dealt with in separate parts of the package and are not tied to a net-zero target at all. One honest caveat: the decision deliberately says transitioning away from rather than phase-out, since phase-out was the wording that failed to win consensus.

Why the others are wrong

(b)Methane emission cuts — In the decision, the reduction of non-carbon-dioxide emissions including methane is pegged to 2030, not to 2050.
(c)Global goal on adaptation — The framework for the global goal on adaptation was adopted at Dubai as a separate decision with its own thematic targets, and is about adapting to impacts rather than about reaching net zero.
(d)Climate resilience — Resilience language runs through the adaptation side of the package and carries no net-zero date.

Concept

The global stocktake is the Paris Agreement's five-yearly review of collective progress towards its goals, mandated by Article 14. The first stocktake ran from 2021 and concluded at COP28 in December 2023 with decision 1/CMA.5, which found the world off track for 1.5 degrees and set out the efforts Parties are called on to contribute to: tripling renewable capacity and doubling the rate of energy efficiency improvement by 2030, phasing down unabated coal power, transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, and phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, among others.

Items on a COP outcome are best answered by holding the dates apart rather than the themes. The stocktake pairs 2030 with the near-term levers — renewables, efficiency, methane — and 2050 with the destination, net zero in energy systems. Once the two brackets are separate, the question answers itself. It is also worth carrying the exact phrase, because the difference between transitioning away from and phasing out was the whole negotiation at Dubai and is what small island states objected to in the closing plenary. COP28 also operationalised the loss and damage fund on its opening day. Worth flagging: UPSC has not released a key for this paper, and some answer keys in circulation mark (b), methane emission cuts. The methane clause in that decision is pegged to 2030, and the 2050 date sits in the fossil-fuel clause, so this card takes (a).

Key facts

COP28 was held in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates from 30 November to 13 December 2023, presided over by Sultan Al Jaber.
Decision 1/CMA.5, paragraph 28(d), calls for transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems so as to achieve net zero by 2050.
Paragraph 28(a) calls for tripling renewable energy capacity and doubling the annual rate of energy efficiency improvement by 2030; 28(f) targets methane by 2030.
The decision says 'transitioning away from', not 'phase-out'; the stronger wording did not win consensus.
COP28 operationalised the loss and damage fund on its first day.

Study next

The global stocktake — mandate under Article 14 and what the first one concludedCOP28 outcomes: loss and damage fund, global goal on adaptation, renewables and efficiency pledgesIndia's position at Dubai and its emphasis on equity and common but differentiated responsibilitiesNet zero targets by country — 2050, 2060 and India's 2070Later conferences and how the fossil fuel language fared afterwards

Common traps

Attaching 2050 to methane; the methane clause is pegged to 2030.
Quoting the decision as agreeing a fossil fuel phase-out, when the adopted wording is transitioning away from.
Confusing the global goal on adaptation with mitigation commitments.

As a which-resolution-carries-which-target item, or as statements on what COP28 did and did not agree.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
The first global stocktake under the Paris Agreement concluded at which conference?
- (a)COP26, Glasgow
- (b)COP27, Sharm el-Sheikh
- (c)COP28, Dubai
- (d)COP29, Baku
Answer(c) COP28, Dubai — the stocktake concluded in December 2023 with decision 1/CMA.5.
practice — not a real PYQ
The COP28 decision called for tripling global renewable energy capacity by which year?
- (a)2025
- (b)2030
- (c)2040
- (d)2050
Answer(b) 2030 — paragraph 28(a) pairs tripling renewables with doubling the annual rate of energy efficiency improvement by 2030.