This MCQ module is based on: Global Commons, India’s Stand & ISA
TOPIC 17 OF 21
Global Commons, India’s Stand & ISA
🎓 Class 12
Social Science
CBSE
Theory
Chapter 6 — Environment and Natural Resources
⏱ ~25 min
🌐 Language: [gtranslate]
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Chapter 6 · Environment and Natural Resources — Part 2: The Global Commons, Common but Differentiated Responsibilities, and India's Stand
Some parts of the planet — the deep oceans, Antarctica, the upper atmosphere, outer space — belong to nobody and to everybody. They are global commons. Garrett Hardin warned in 1968 of the "tragedy of the commons" — that resources owned by no one will be ruined by everyone. This Part examines how the world has tried to govern the commons (the 1959 Antarctic Treaty and its 1991 Madrid Protocol), how the 1992 Rio Declaration enshrined the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR), and how India has positioned itself in global environmental negotiations — ratifying the Kyoto Protocol (2002), the Paris Agreement (2016), launching the International Solar Alliance (2015) with France, pledging net-zero by 2070, and shaping the G20 New Delhi Declaration of 2023.
6.7 The Protection of Global Commons
The word "commons" usually brings to mind a village pasture or a community pond — a resource that belongs to no one in particular but to everyone in the community. Commons? are resources which are not owned by anyone but rather shared by a community. A village green is a commons; so is a river bank where everyone fishes; so, in a different sense, are the world's atmosphere, deep oceans and Antarctica. NCERT calls these latter cases the global commons — areas res communis humanitatis ("things common to humanity") that lie outside the sovereign jurisdiction of any one state and therefore require common governance by the international community.
📖 Definition — Global Commons
The global commons are areas or resources of the world that lie outside the sovereign jurisdiction of any one state, and therefore require collective governance. NCERT identifies four classic examples: the Earth's atmosphere, Antarctica, the ocean floor (especially the deep seabed), and outer space.
The Four Global Commons — Concept Map
6.7.1 The Tragedy of the Commons (Garrett Hardin, 1968)
Why is governing the commons so difficult? The American ecologist Garrett Hardin, in a celebrated essay published in 1968, used the parable of a village pasture to make the point. Imagine a common pasture open to all. Each herder has an incentive to add one more cow — the benefit goes entirely to the herder, while the cost (overgrazing) is shared by all. So every herder adds more cows, until the pasture is destroyed. Hardin called this the "tragedy of the commons"?.
The same logic explains why coastal seas get over-fished, why aquifers get pumped dry, and why the atmosphere is filling up with carbon dioxide. Each user gains the benefit of using the resource a little more; the cost of damage is spread among all. Without an authority that can enforce conservation, the commons gets ruined. Later scholars — especially the Nobel-winning Elinor Ostrom — showed that communities can sometimes solve the tragedy through shared rules and institutions; but those solutions are hard to scale up to the level of the planet.
6.7.2 Antarctica — The Coldest, Farthest, Windiest Continent
Antarctica is the textbook case of a global commons. The continent extends over 14 million square kilometres and contains 26 percent of the world's wilderness area, holding 90 percent of all terrestrial ice and 70 percent of planetary fresh water. It also extends to a further 36 million square kilometres of ocean. Antarctica is essential for climate stability — and its deep ice cores provide an irreplaceable record of greenhouse gas concentrations and atmospheric temperatures going back hundreds of thousands of years.
Who owns Antarctica? There are two competing claims:
Sovereign Claims
Some countries — UK, Argentina, Chile, Norway, France, Australia, New Zealand — have made legal claims to sovereign rights over slices of Antarctic territory.
Common Heritage View
Most other states reject these claims. They argue that Antarctica is part of the global commons and is not subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of any state.
6.7.3 The Antarctic Treaty (1959) and the Madrid Protocol (1991)
Despite these differences, the international community has built an unusual and far-reaching legal regime to protect Antarctica.
TREATY 1
Antarctic Treaty
1959 — entered into force 1961
Originally signed by 12 countries. It limits activities on the continent to scientific research, fishing and tourism; bans military activity and weapons testing; freezes (without resolving) the question of sovereignty. Today it has over 50 parties.
TREATY 2
Montreal Protocol
1987 — on the ozone layer
Not Antarctic-specific, but a landmark for the global commons of the atmosphere. Phased out CFCs and other ozone-depleting substances. India joined in 1992; ratified amendments thereafter. Ozone hole is slowly healing.
TREATY 3
Madrid Protocol
1991 — on Environmental Protection
Also called the Antarctic Environmental Protocol. Designates Antarctica as a "natural reserve devoted to peace and science" and imposes a 50-year moratorium on mineral exploitation until 2048. Came into force in 1998.
🌐 The Antarctic Lesson
Cooperation over the global commons is not easy — but it is possible. The Antarctic Treaty, the Montreal Protocol and the Madrid Protocol show that even on the most contested questions of sovereignty, governments can agree to set aside their differences when the science is clear and the alternative is destruction. The challenge for climate change is to scale this cooperation up to the entire planet, where many more countries with very different interests are involved.
6.7.4 Outer Space and the North–South Divide
Outer space, like Antarctica, is a global commons. But the management of outer space, NCERT points out, is "thoroughly influenced by North–South inequalities". Only the rich industrialised countries (and a handful of large developing countries) have the technology to launch satellites, place objects in orbit, or send probes to other planets. The benefits of exploiting outer space — communications, GPS, remote sensing — are far from equally shared, either for the present or for future generations. The same Outer Space Treaty (1967) that reserves space for "all mankind" leaves the actual rule-making to whoever can get there first.
6.8 Common but Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR)
The Rio Declaration of 1992 set out a principle that has, ever since, framed every global environmental negotiation: common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR)?. The argument is straightforward.
📖 The CBDR Principle — Rio Declaration, Principle 7 (Paraphrased)
States shall cooperate in the spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect and restore the health and integrity of the Earth's ecosystem. Given the different contributions to global environmental degradation, states have common but differentiated responsibilities. The developed countries acknowledge the responsibility they bear in the international pursuit of sustainable development, in view of the pressures their societies place on the global environment and the technological and financial resources they command.
The principle takes two facts seriously. First, the largest share of historical and current emissions of greenhouse gases has originated in developed countries — they industrialised first, and continue to consume more energy per person. Second, per capita emissions in developing countries are still relatively low. The principle was operationalised in the 1992 UNFCCC and again in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which exempted developing countries (including China, India and others) from binding emission cuts.
6.8.1 The North–South Argument
| Position | Global North (Developed) | Global South (Developing) |
|---|---|---|
| Time frame | Discuss the issue as it stands now; everyone equally responsible. | Look at the history of emissions; the North caused most damage and must take more responsibility. |
| Per capita emissions | Higher, but flattening or declining. | Lower, but rising as countries industrialise. |
| Priority | Cap and reduce emissions everywhere immediately. | Eradicate poverty first; allow space for industrial development. |
| Demand | Universal binding targets. | Differentiated targets + finance + clean technology transfer. |
The Kyoto Protocol of 1997 reflected the Southern view: it imposed binding emission cuts on developed countries (Annex I parties) but exempted developing countries. Critics in the North objected — pointing out that India and China, growing fast, would eventually become major polluters and could not stay exempt forever. The Paris Agreement of 2015 represents a compromise: all countries now submit Nationally Determined Contributions, but rich countries are still expected to take the lead and to provide finance and technology.
6.9 India's Stand on Environmental Issues
India's stand in global environmental negotiations rests on a clear and consistent line — articulated since the Stockholm Conference of 1972 and refined at every major summit since. The core argument: the major responsibility for curbing emissions rests with the developed countries, which have accumulated emissions over centuries. India's per capita emissions are still a small fraction of those of the developed world (NCERT cites Indian per capita emissions of 0.9 tonnes in 2000 rising to a projected 1.6 tonnes in 2030 — less than half the world average of 3.8 tonnes in 2000).
6.9.1 India's Treaty Record
RATIFIED 1992
UNFCCC
Signed 1992 · Ratified 1993
India was an active negotiator at Rio and ratified the parent climate treaty. As a developing country, India was placed in non-Annex I — exempt from binding cuts but committed to general principles.
RATIFIED 2002
Kyoto Protocol
Signed and ratified 2002
India ratified the Kyoto Protocol in August 2002. As with all developing countries, India was exempt from binding emission cuts because its contribution to historical greenhouse gas emissions was insignificant.
RATIFIED 2016
Paris Agreement
Ratified 2 October 2016
India ratified the Paris Agreement on 2 October 2016 — Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary, also celebrated as the International Day of Non-Violence. India submitted its first NDC in 2015 and an updated NDC in 2022.
6.9.2 India's Updated NDCs (2022) — The Climate Pledge
Under the Paris Agreement, every country submits a Nationally Determined Contribution spelling out its emission-cut pledges. India's updated NDCs, submitted in August 2022, contain four headline commitments:
India's Updated NDC Targets — The Climate Pledge
| Programme / Law | Year | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| National Auto-fuel Policy | 2003 | Mandated cleaner fuels (BS-III to BS-VI) for vehicles to cut urban air pollution. |
| Energy Conservation Act | 2001 | Set up Bureau of Energy Efficiency; star-rating of appliances; perform-achieve-trade scheme for industries. |
| Electricity Act | 2003 | Encouraged the use of renewable energy and provided for renewable purchase obligations. |
| National Action Plan on Climate Change | 2008 | Eight National Missions (Solar, Energy Efficiency, Water, Sustainable Habitat, etc.). |
| National Mission on Biodiesel (planned) | 2003 onwards | Goal: produce biodiesel from about 11 million hectares of land by 2011–2012 (NCERT cites). |
6.9.3 The International Solar Alliance (ISA)
India's most ambitious foreign-policy initiative on the environment is the International Solar Alliance (ISA)?, launched at the Paris COP21 in November 2015 jointly by India and France. Its founding signatories were countries lying wholly or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn — the "sunshine countries". The ISA aims to mobilise more than US$1 trillion of investment in solar power by 2030, headquartered in Gurugram, India. Today the ISA has more than 100 member countries.
6.9.4 The G20 New Delhi Declaration (2023)
India held the rotating presidency of the G20 for 2023 and hosted the leaders' summit in New Delhi in September 2023. The G20 New Delhi Declaration contained important environmental commitments: tripling global renewable energy capacity by 2030, voluntary phasedown of unabated coal power, accelerating efforts to cut methane emissions, and reaffirming the goal of mobilising US$100 billion per year in climate finance for developing countries. The Declaration also welcomed the African Union as a permanent member of the G20 — a major diplomatic outcome.
6.9.5 India's Negotiating Position — Five Pillars
India's international negotiating position on the environment is built on five recurring arguments, all enshrined in or derived from UNFCCC and the Rio Declaration:
1. Historical Responsibility
Developed countries are responsible for the largest share of historical and current greenhouse gas emissions; they must therefore take the lead in cutting them.
2. Equity
Per capita emissions of developing countries remain low. India's per capita emissions are projected to be less than half the 2000 world average even in 2030.
3. Development First
"Economic and social development are the first and overriding priorities of the developing country parties." India will not accept binding restrictions that hamper poverty alleviation.
4. Finance & Technology
Developed countries must provide developing countries with financial resources and clean technology on concessional terms — a key UNFCCC commitment that India says has not been adequately met.
5. SAARC Common Position
India advocates that SAARC and other groupings of developing countries adopt a common position on global environmental issues so that the region's voice carries greater weight.
🌐 Why India Resists "New Binding Commitments"
India is wary of recent suggestions within UNFCCC about introducing binding commitments on rapidly industrialising countries (like Brazil, China and India) to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. India's view: this contravenes the very spirit of UNFCCC and CBDR. To impose restrictions on India when its per capita emissions remain less than half the world average is unfair. India's stand is consistent: act, but on the basis of equity.
6.9.6 Sacred Groves — A Traditional Common Property in India
NCERT highlights one beautiful Indian example of community-managed common property — the sacred groves. These are parcels of uncut forest vegetation dedicated to certain deities or natural spirits. Hindus have traditionally worshipped natural objects, including trees and groves; many temples have grown out of sacred groves. Along the forest belt of South India, sacred groves have for centuries been managed by village communities under shared rules of harvesting and protection. Their size ranges from clumps of a few trees to several hundred acres. Sacred groves embody a model of community-based resource management — they are simultaneously a religious practice and a successful "common property regime", as ecologists call them.
🏛 The Threat to Sacred Groves
In recent years, expansion and human settlement have slowly encroached on sacred forests. A real problem in managing them arises when legal ownership rests with the state but operational control rests with the village community — the two entities differ in policy norms and underlying motives. Modern forest policies, framed for state-managed forests, often do not fit the management style of community-protected groves, and the institutional identity of these traditional forests is fading.
Antarctic Sea Ice Extent — Cumulative Decline (1980 baseline = 100)
DISCUSS — Should India Accept Binding Emission Cuts?
Bloom: L5 Evaluate
Critics in the global North argue that India and China are now among the largest absolute emitters and must accept binding emission cuts. Indian negotiators reply that per capita Indian emissions remain a small fraction of the West, that India needs energy to lift hundreds of millions out of poverty, and that the historical responsibility for climate change lies elsewhere. Stage a class debate on the motion: "India should accept binding emission cuts in the next round of climate negotiations." Form two teams: one defending the Northern view, one defending the Southern view. Each side gets 7 minutes; then a 5-minute open discussion.
✅ Pointers
Northern position: Climate change does not care about per capita figures or history; the atmosphere is one. India's absolute emissions are now the third largest in the world. Without Indian and Chinese cooperation, no climate plan can succeed. Indian/Southern position: CBDR is a foundational principle of UNFCCC. India's per capita emissions are still about a third of the global average. Adequate finance and clean technology have not been delivered as promised. India is already doing its share — net-zero by 2070, the ISA, large renewable programmes — and is willing to do more provided equity is preserved. The strongest answers in the debate will not pick one side absolutely; they will note that the principle of CBDR allows both binding action and equity simultaneously, and that the real fight is about who pays.
⚠ Six Numbers to Remember from Section 2
1959 — Antarctic Treaty signed. 1968 — Garrett Hardin publishes "Tragedy of the Commons". 1987 — Montreal Protocol on the ozone layer. 1991 — Madrid Protocol (Antarctic Environmental Protocol) — 50-year mining ban. 2002 — India ratifies Kyoto Protocol. 2015 — International Solar Alliance launched at Paris by India and France. 2016 — India ratifies the Paris Agreement on 2 October. 2023 — G20 New Delhi Declaration. India's NDC targets: 45% emissions intensity cut and 50% non-fossil power capacity by 2030; net-zero by 2070.
📋
Competency-Based Questions — Part 2
Case Study: The "global commons" — the Earth's atmosphere, Antarctica, the deep ocean floor and outer space — lie outside the sovereign jurisdiction of any state. The 1959 Antarctic Treaty froze sovereignty claims and reserved Antarctica for science; the 1991 Madrid Protocol added a 50-year ban on mineral exploitation. The Rio Declaration (1992) enshrined "common but differentiated responsibilities". India ratified UNFCCC in 1992, the Kyoto Protocol in 2002 and the Paris Agreement on 2 October 2016. Under its 2022 updated NDC, India pledges a 45% cut in emissions intensity by 2030, 50% non-fossil power capacity by 2030, and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2070. India and France launched the International Solar Alliance at Paris in 2015. India hosted the G20 in 2023.
Q1. India ratified the Paris Agreement on:
L1 RememberAnswer: (B) — India ratified the Paris Agreement on 2 October 2016, Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary, marking the symbolic alignment of climate action with non-violence and self-restraint.
Q2. Which of the following is NOT one of the four classic global commons identified by NCERT?
L2 UnderstandAnswer: (C) — NCERT identifies the four global commons as the Earth's atmosphere, Antarctica, the ocean floor, and outer space. Mount Everest, however symbolic, lies within the sovereign territory of Nepal and China and is therefore not a "commons".
Q3. Analyse, in five sentences, the meaning and significance of "common but differentiated responsibilities" (CBDR).
L4 AnalyseModel Answer: CBDR, enshrined as Principle 7 of the 1992 Rio Declaration, says that all states share a common responsibility to protect the Earth's environment, but the share of responsibility is differentiated by historical contribution to damage, by current capabilities, and by levels of development. The principle takes seriously two facts — that developed countries have produced most historical greenhouse gas emissions, and that per capita emissions in developing countries are still low. CBDR was operationalised in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which placed binding cuts on developed (Annex I) parties while exempting developing countries including India and China. The 2015 Paris Agreement modified the principle: all countries now submit Nationally Determined Contributions, but rich countries are expected to take the lead and provide finance and technology. CBDR remains the central principle of fairness in global environmental politics, and India's negotiating position is built on it.
HOT Q. Suppose you are an Indian climate negotiator at the next UNFCCC Conference of Parties. The European Union proposes a binding global carbon tax of US$50 per tonne. Draft a 4-point Indian counter-proposal that respects India's commitments under the Paris Agreement while preserving CBDR.
L6 CreateSuggested Counter-Proposal: (1) Accept a graduated carbon price that begins at zero for least-developed and lower-middle-income countries and rises with per capita income, in line with CBDR. (2) Require that 100 percent of revenue from any global carbon price be channelled through the UNFCCC's Green Climate Fund to finance clean energy and adaptation in the Global South — fixing the unfulfilled US$100 billion per year pledge. (3) Tie the carbon price to open-licence transfer of clean technology from the North, addressing the Article 4 finance and technology obligations of UNFCCC. (4) Reaffirm India's existing NDCs (45% emissions intensity cut by 2030, 50% non-fossil power, net-zero by 2070) and propose a Just Transition mechanism that protects workers in coal-dependent regions. The core point: India is willing to accelerate, but only with finance and technology, and only on the basis of equity.
⚖️ Assertion–Reason Questions — Part 2
Options:
(A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
(B) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT the correct explanation of A.
(C) A is true, but R is false.
(D) A is false, but R is true.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
(B) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT the correct explanation of A.
(C) A is true, but R is false.
(D) A is false, but R is true.
Assertion (A): The Antarctic continent is regarded by most countries as part of the global commons.
Reason (R): Under the 1959 Antarctic Treaty and the 1991 Madrid Protocol, activities in Antarctica are limited to scientific research, fishing and tourism, and there is a 50-year moratorium on mineral exploitation.
Answer: (B) — Both A and R are true. A is about the legal/political status (most countries view Antarctica as a global commons; some maintain rival sovereign claims). R is about the regime that governs activities there. R is true but does not by itself explain A; the global-commons view is older and broader than the treaty regime, although the treaties reflect it. So A and R are both true but R is not the direct cause of A.
Assertion (A): India's NDCs under the Paris Agreement include a target to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2070.
Reason (R): India's negotiating position rests on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and on the recognition that India's per capita emissions remain much lower than the world average.
Answer: (A) — Both A and R are true, and R correctly explains A. India committed to net-zero by 2070 (announced at COP26 in 2021 and incorporated into long-term strategy submitted in 2022). It is precisely because India invokes CBDR and equity that it sets net-zero in 2070 — twenty years later than the 2050 target adopted by most developed countries — recognising that India needs longer to industrialise and build infrastructure.
Assertion (A): The International Solar Alliance (ISA) was launched jointly by India and France at Paris in November 2015.
Reason (R): The ISA's membership is restricted to countries lying entirely north of the Tropic of Cancer.
Answer: (C) — A is true: the ISA was indeed launched jointly by India and France at COP21 in November 2015. R is false: the ISA's founding signatories were countries lying wholly or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn (the "sunshine countries"); membership has since been opened to all UN member states, and today the ISA has over 100 member countries from across the world.
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