CLAT Inferences Practice Questions With Solutions

Biodiversity is being lost at a rate not seen since the last mass extinction. But the United Nations decade -old plan to slow down and eventually stop the decline of species and ecosystems by 2020 has failed. Most of the plan’s 20 targets - known as the Aichi Biodiversity Targets - have not been met. The Aichi targets are part of an international agreement called the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, and member states are now finalizing replacements for them. Currently referred to as the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), its draft was published in July 2021. It aims to slow down the rate of biodiversity loss by 2030. And by 2050, biodiversity will be “valued, conserved, restored and wisely used, maintaining ecosystem services, sustaini ng a healthy planet and delivering benefits essential for all people”. The GBF is a comprehensive plan. But success will require systemic change across public policy. That is both a strength and a weakness. If systemic change can be implemented, it will le ad to real change. But if it cannot, there’s no plan B. This has led some researchers to argue that one target or number should be prioritized and defined in a way that is clear to the public and to policy makers. It would be biodiversity’s equivalent of t he 2°C climate target.

Asia is at the front line of climate change. Extreme heat in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, wildfires in Australia, typhoons in Japan, are real and present dangers and likely to become more frequent as climate change intensifies. McKinsey’s report on ‘Climate risk and response in Asia’, finds that, without adaptation and mitigation, Asia is expected to experience more severe socioeconomic impacts of climate change than other parts of the world. Large cities in the Indian Subcontinent could be among the first places in the world to experience heat waves that exceed the survivability threshold. Just as information systems and cybersecurity have become integrated into co rporate and public -sector decision making, climate change will also need to feature as a major factor in decisions. Climate science tells us that some amount of warming over the next decade is already locked in due to past emissions, and temperatures will continue to rise. India anticipates a significant infrastructure build out over the next decades with projects worth $1.77 trillion across 34 sub sectors, according to the National Infrastructure Pipeline. Robust regulations around outdoor work could signi ficantly reduce the economic risk of lost hours as well as the toll on life from heat waves. The good news is that we have started to see some Indian states and cities pursuing such policies. Ahmedabad City Corporation introduced a heat action plan - the first of its kind in India in response to the 2010 heat wave that killed 300 people in a single day. The city now has a heat -wave early warning system, a citywide programme of roof reflectivity to keep buildings cool, and teams to distribute cool water and r ehydration tablets during heat waves. Renewable energy has grown rapidly in India and can contribute 30 per cent of gross electricity generation by 2030, according to the Central Electricity Authority.