The 'Basel Convention' is aimed at protecting human health and environment against adverse effects of which of the following?
- A.Hazardous wastes
- B.Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
- C.Mercury
- D.Chemicals and pesticides
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is A, Hazardous wastes. The Basel Convention controls the movement of hazardous wastes across borders and their disposal, to protect human health and the environment.
It was adopted at Basel, Switzerland, in 1989 and came into force in 1992. It was a response to rich countries shipping toxic waste to poorer ones in Africa and Asia. Under it, waste may be exported only with the prior informed consent of the importing country, and countries must keep the generation of hazardous waste to a minimum. Plastic waste was brought under it by amendments that took effect in 2021. India is a party to the Convention.
B is wrong because Persistent Organic Pollutants are covered by the Stockholm Convention of 2001. C is wrong because mercury is dealt with by the Minamata Convention of 2013. D is wrong because the trade in hazardous chemicals and pesticides is the subject of the Rotterdam Convention of 1998, which works through prior informed consent.
Exam tip: Basel for hazardous waste, Rotterdam for chemicals and pesticides, Stockholm for POPs, Minamata for mercury.
Practice Questions
View allIn India, if a species of tortoise is declared protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, what does it imply ?
- A.It enjoys the same level of protection as the tiger.
- B.It no longer exists in the wild, a few individuals are under captive protection; and now it is impossible to prevent its extinction.
- C.It is endemic to a particular region of India.
- D.Both (b) and (c) stated above are correct in this context.
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Schedule I lists the animals that get the highest level of legal protection in India, and the tiger is one of them.
Read the full explanation →"Momentum for Change : Climate Neutral Now" is an initiative launched by
- A.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
- B.The UNEP Secretariat
- C.The UNFCCC Secretariat
- D.The World Meteorological Organization
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Both 'Momentum for Change' and 'Climate Neutral Now' are initiatives of the secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, based in Bonn.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following statements :
1. Most of the world's coral reefs are in tropical waters.
2. More than one-third of the world's coral reefs are located in the territories of Australia, Indonesia and Philippines.
3. Coral reefs host far more number of animal phyla than those hosted by tropical rainforests.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
- A.1 and 2 only
- B.3 only
- C.1 and 3 only
- D.1, 2 and 3
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All three statements about coral reefs are correct. Reef-building corals need warm, clear, shallow water, roughly between 20 °C and 30 °C, so almost all reefs lie in the tropics between about 30° N and 30° S. Indonesia, Australia and the Philippines together hold well over a third of the…
Read the full explanation →Consider the following statements :
1. The Sustainable Development Goals were first proposed in 1972 by a global think tank called the 'Club of Rome'.
2. The Sustainable Development Goals have to be achieved by 2030.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- A.1 only
- B.2 only
- C.Both 1 and 2
- D.Neither 1 nor 2
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The Sustainable Development Goals are to be met by 2030, but they were not proposed by the Club of Rome in 1972.
Read the full explanation →The Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE), a UN mechanism to assist countries transition towards greener and more inclusive economies, emerged at
- A.The Earth Summit on Sustainable Development 2002, Johannesburg
- B.The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development 2012, Rio de Janeiro
- C.The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 2015, Paris
- D.The World Sustainable Development Summit 2016, New Delhi
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PAGE was launched in 2013 as a direct response to the call made at the Rio+20 conference of June 2012, whose outcome document, 'The Future We Want', recognised the green economy as a tool for sustainable development and poverty eradication.
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