Read the passage and answer the questions:
The developed countries of the North want to discuss the environmental issue as it stands now and want everyone to be equally responsible for ecological conservation. The developing countries of the South feel that much of the ecological degradation in the world is the product of industrial development undertaken by the developed countries. If they have caused more degradation, they must also take more responsibility for undoing the damage now. Moreover, the developing countries are in the process of industrialisation and they must not be subjected to the same restrictions, which apply to the developed countries. Thus the special needs of the developing countries must be taken into account in the development, application, and interpretation of rules of international environmental law. This argument was accepted in the Rio Declaration at the Earth Summit in 1992 and is called the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’. The relevant part of the Rio Declaration says that “States shall cooperate in the spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect and restore the health and integrity of the Earth’s ecosystem.”
Ecological degradation is closely related to -
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Industrial development
Option (1) Industrial development — Correct. The developing countries of the South feel that much of the ecological degradation in the world is the product of industrial development undertaken by the developed countries; that is why those countries must take more responsibility for undoing the damage.
Option (2) North-South equalities — Incorrect. The passage speaks of the differences between the North and the South, not of equalities, and these are not what degradation is linked to.
Option (3) Res communis humanitatis — Incorrect. This is the Latin name for the global commons: areas or regions outside the sovereign jurisdiction of any one state, such as the earth’s atmosphere, Antarctica, the ocean floor and outer space, which need common governance by the international community. They are places that suffer degradation, not its cause.
Option (4) Sustainable development — Incorrect. Sustainable development is the approach agreed at Rio of combining economic growth with ecological responsibility. It is the remedy proposed for degradation, not the thing that causes it.
NCERT (2025-26): “Common but Differentiated Responsibilities … We have noted above a difference in the approach to environment between the countries of the North and the South. The developed countries of the North want to discuss the environmental issue as it stands now and want everyone to be equally responsible for ecological conservation. The developing countries of the South feel that much of the ecological degradation in the world is the product of industrial development undertaken by the developed countries. If they have caused more degradation, they must also take more responsibility for undoing the damage now. Moreover, the developing countries are in the process of industrialisation and they must not be subjected to the same restrictions, which apply to the developed countries.…” |