UPPSC 2023 Prelims GS Paper-I · Question 117 of 150

Correct — B, Sustainable development. ‘Agenda 21’ is the non-binding global action plan adopted at the UN Conference on Environment and Development (the Rio ‘Earth Summit’) in 1992. It is a comprehensive blueprint for action by governments and civil society to achieve sustainable development in the 21st century (the ‘21’ refers to the coming century). So Agenda 21 is fundamentally about sustainable development.

• (a)Preservation of ozone layer — Protection of the ozone layer is governed by the Vienna Convention (1985) and the Montreal Protocol (1987), not by Agenda 21 of the Rio Summit.
• (c)Polluter – Pays principle — The polluter-pays principle appears as Principle 16 of the Rio Declaration — a companion document of the same summit — but Agenda 21 itself is the broad action plan for sustainable development, not that single principle.
• (d)Environmental education — Environmental education is only one theme (Chapter 36) within Agenda 21; the document as a whole is an action plan for sustainable development, so ‘environmental education’ is too narrow.

The 1992 Rio ‘Earth Summit’ (UN Conference on Environment and Development, UNCED) produced several outcomes: the Rio Declaration (27 principles), Agenda 21, the Statement of Forest Principles, and it opened the UNFCCC and the Convention on Biological Diversity for signature. Agenda 21 is the summit’s detailed, voluntary action programme for global, national and local sustainable development.

All four options are genuine environmental topics, so the trap is that each was discussed around Rio. The key distinction: ozone belongs to the Montreal Protocol; polluter-pays is a principle of the Rio Declaration; environmental education is a sub-chapter — but ‘Agenda 21’ as a whole = the plan for sustainable development.

• Agenda 21 was adopted at the Rio Earth Summit (UNCED), 1992.
• It is a non-binding action plan for sustainable development; ‘21’ denotes the 21st century.
• Other Rio 1992 outcomes: Rio Declaration, Statement of Forest Principles, UNFCCC and CBD opened for signature.
• The ozone regime (Vienna Convention/Montreal Protocol) is separate from the Rio process.

• Linking Agenda 21 to ozone or to the polluter-pays principle instead of sustainable development
• Confusing Agenda 21 (Rio 1992) with Agenda 2030 (the SDGs)

UPSC/UPPSC ask what a named summit/agreement dealt with, or to match summits (Stockholm, Rio, Johannesburg) with their year and theme.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Rio ‘Earth Summit’ of 1992 opened for signature which of the following conventions?

  • (a)Montreal Protocol
  • (b)United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
  • (c)Ramsar Convention
  • (d)Basel Convention

  Answer(b) UNFCCC — it was opened for signature at the 1992 Rio Summit (along with the CBD).

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The number ‘21’ in ‘Agenda 21’ refers to:

  • (a)21 signatory countries
  • (b)the 21st century
  • (c)21 environmental principles
  • (d)Chapter 21 of the UN Charter

  Answer(b) the 21st century — Agenda 21 is a plan of action for sustainable development in the 21st century.