Level 1
Climate Change MCQs set 3 for PPSC Accounts Officer (BS-17) Current Affairs — 20 solved questions.
Q1. The 2022 Pakistan floods resulted in economic losses estimated at approximately how much?
Answer: US$30 billion
Explanation: The 2022 Pakistan floods, triggered by record monsoon rains and glacial lake outburst floods, inundated approximately one-third of the country and caused economic losses and damages estimated at around USD 30 billion according to the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment.
Q2. At which COP conference was the Loss and Damage fund formally established, which Pakistan strongly advocated for?
Answer: COP27 (Sharm el-Sheikh, 2022)
Explanation: The Loss and Damage fund was formally established at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt in November 2022, marking a historic breakthrough after decades of resistance from developed nations. Pakistan, having suffered devastating floods that year causing USD 30 billion in damage, was a prominent advocate for the fund's creation.
Q3. Pakistan's flagship reforestation initiative, launched under PM Imran Khan, aimed at planting how many trees?
Answer: 10 billion
Explanation: Pakistan's Ten Billion Tree Tsunami programme, launched under Prime Minister Imran Khan, set a target of planting 10 billion trees across the country over five years as part of Pakistan's climate change mitigation strategy. The programme built on the earlier Billion Tree Tsunami initiative in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which had received international recognition for successful reforestation.
Q4. What is the name of Pakistan's national body responsible for coordinating disaster risk reduction and emergency response?
Answer: NDMA
Explanation: The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is Pakistan's apex body for disaster risk reduction, preparedness, and emergency response coordination, established under the National Disaster Management Act 2010. It operates at the federal level under the Prime Minister's office and works alongside provincial PDMAs and district DDMAs to manage natural and man-made disasters.
Q5. Dengue fever outbreaks in Punjab in 2023 were linked to which environmental factor that has worsened due to climate change?
Answer: Prolonged monsoon rains and stagnant water creating breeding grounds for mosquitoes
Explanation: Dengue fever outbreaks in Punjab in 2023 were strongly linked to prolonged monsoon rains and the resulting stagnant water pools that provide ideal breeding grounds for Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, the dengue vector. Climate change has extended the monsoon season and increased rainfall intensity in Pakistan, expanding the geographic range and seasonal duration of dengue transmission.
Q6. The UNFCCC stands for United Nations Framework Convention on what?
Answer: Climate Change
Explanation: UNFCCC stands for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the 1992 international environmental treaty that established the framework for international cooperation to limit global temperature increases and address the impacts of climate change. It serves as the parent treaty under which subsequent agreements, including the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, were negotiated.
Q7. A senior diplomat is preparing Pakistan's position on climate finance in the context of CPEC. Pakistan is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change despite contributing less than 1% of global emissions. Pakistan argues that CPEC's coal-based power plants should be transitioned to renewables with Chinese financing. Which global principle underpins Pakistan's climate justice argument?
Answer: Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC)
Explanation: Pakistan's climate justice argument rests on the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC), enshrined in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992) and reaffirmed in the Paris Agreement, which recognizes that developed countries bear greater historical responsibility for cumulative greenhouse gas emissions and.
Q8. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted at which summit in 1992?
Answer: Rio Earth Summit
Explanation: The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted at the Earth Summit (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 1992.
Q9. Which country hosted COP26 in 2021?
Answer: United Kingdom
Explanation: COP26 was held in Glasgow, United Kingdom, in November 2021, producing the Glasgow Climate Pact which included the first explicit call to phase down unabated coal power. The UK, as host, played a central role in brokering agreements on methane reductions, deforestation, and accelerated climate finance.
Q10. COP27 was held in 2022 in which Egyptian city?
Answer: Sharm el-Sheikh
Explanation: COP27, the 27th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, was held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in November 2022, where the landmark decision to establish a Loss and Damage Fund was agreed. Sharm el-Sheikh is a Red Sea resort city in the Sinai Peninsula, not in mainland Egypt's major cities of Cairo or Alexandria.
Q11. The Copenhagen Accord of 2009 was a key outcome of which COP meeting?
Answer: COP15
Explanation: The Copenhagen Accord was the non-binding political agreement produced at COP15, held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December 2009; it was notable for being the first climate agreement to include voluntary emission reduction pledges from both developed and major developing nations, though it was "noted" rather than formally adopted.
Q12. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, closely linked to climate discussions, set a target to protect what percentage of land and oceans by 2030?
Answer: 30 percent
Explanation: The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted at COP15 in December 2022, set the landmark "30x30" target - protecting 30 percent of the world's land and oceans by 2030. This framework was seen as the biodiversity equivalent of the Paris Agreement for climate.
Q13. A CSS aspirant is studying the Paris Agreement and notes that it was adopted in 2015. Which city hosted the UNFCCC conference where this landmark agreement was finalised?
Answer: Paris, France
Explanation: The Paris Agreement was adopted at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the UNFCCC, held in Paris, France, in December 2015.
Q14. During a climate policy lecture, a student learns that the Paris Agreement sets two temperature targets to limit global warming. Which pair correctly represents these targets above pre-industrial levels?
Answer: 1.5°C and 2°C
Explanation: The Paris Agreement, adopted at COP21 in December 2015, sets two temperature targets: to hold global average temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.
Q15. A junior diplomat is briefing Pakistan's delegation before a UNFCCC session. She explains that the Paris Agreement entered into force in a specific year after enough countries ratified it. Which year did the Paris Agreement enter into force?
Answer: 2016
Explanation: The Paris Agreement entered into force on 4 November 2016, thirty days after 55 countries representing at least 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions ratified it - a dual threshold met in October 2016 faster than most observers expected.
Q16. A policy intern reads that each country under the Paris Agreement must submit a plan outlining its climate targets and actions. What is the official term for these national climate pledges?
Answer: Nationally Determined Contributions
Explanation: Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are the climate action plans that each country party to the Paris Agreement must prepare, communicate, and update every five years, outlining their targets for reducing emissions and adapting to climate impacts.
Q17. A student preparing for CSS general knowledge recalls that COP21 was the conference of parties where the Paris Agreement was adopted. Under which international body does the Conference of Parties (COP) operate?
Answer: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Explanation: The Conference of Parties (COP) is the supreme decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which was adopted at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and entered into force in 1994.
Q18. An FPSC examinee reads that COP26 was held in 2021 and produced the Glasgow Climate Pact. Which city hosted COP26?
Answer: Glasgow, United Kingdom
Explanation: COP26, the 26th UN Climate Change Conference, was held in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom in October-November 2021 and produced the Glasgow Climate Pact. Glasgow was chosen as the host city, hence the pact bearing its name.
Q19. During a quiz competition, a candidate is asked about Pakistan's catastrophic 2022 floods. Approximately how many people were displaced by the 2022 super-floods in Pakistan?
Answer: 33 million
Explanation: Pakistan's 2022 monsoon floods - described by officials as a climate-induced catastrophe - inundated one-third of the country's land area, displaced approximately 33 million people, and killed over 1,700. The flooding caused an estimated $30 billion in damages and losses, making it one of the costliest climate disasters in South Asian history.
Q20. A bureaucracy trainee is studying Pakistan's reforestation initiative. Prime Minister Imran Khan launched a major tree-planting programme. What is this initiative called?
Answer: Ten Billion Tree Tsunami
Explanation: Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami (TBTT) programme in 2018, expanding a similar provincial initiative from his tenure as Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa called the Billion Tree Tsunami. The programme aimed to plant ten billion trees across Pakistan by 2023 to combat deforestation and climate change.