Sustainable Development & SDGs Quiz: Economy Practice

Spoilers! These are the Starter quiz’s answers. Easy, Medium, Hard and Mixed rounds show their own answers when you finish.

1. The widely used definition of sustainable development comes from the 1987 Brundtland Commission report titled:

   • The Limits to Growth
   • Agenda 21
   • Our Common Future
   • The Future We Want

   Answer: Our Common Future. 'Our Common Future' defined sustainable development as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. 'The Limits to Growth' (1972) was a Club of Rome report.

2. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development contains:

   • 17 goals and 169 targets
   • 8 goals and 21 targets
   • 17 goals and 231 targets
   • 15 goals and 169 targets

   Answer: 17 goals and 169 targets. The SDGs, adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2015, have 17 goals and 169 targets (tracked through over 200 indicators). Eight goals belonged to the earlier MDGs.

3. SDG 13 deals with:

   • Life below water
   • Clean water and sanitation
   • Responsible consumption and production
   • Climate action

   Answer: Climate action. SDG 13 is Climate Action. Life below water is SDG 14, clean water and sanitation SDG 6, and responsible consumption and production SDG 12.

4. Which body brings out the SDG India Index, ranking states and UTs on their SDG progress?

   • Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
   • NITI Aayog
   • Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
   • Reserve Bank of India

   Answer: NITI Aayog. NITI Aayog coordinates SDG implementation and has published the SDG India Index since 2018. MoSPI maintains the National Indicator Framework used to measure progress.

5. The SDGs succeeded the Millennium Development Goals, which covered the period:

   • 1990-2005
   • 1995-2010
   • 2005-2020
   • 2000-2015

   Answer: 2000-2015. The eight MDGs came from the UN Millennium Declaration (2000) with a target year of 2015. The SDGs took over from 1 January 2016 and run to 2030.

6. By which year has India committed to reach net-zero emissions?

   • 2070
   • 2050
   • 2060
   • 2047

   Answer: 2070. India announced the 2070 net-zero target at COP26 in Glasgow (2021) as part of its 'Panchamrit' commitments. 2050 is the year many developed economies have chosen.

7. Under its updated Nationally Determined Contribution (2022), India aims to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by:

   • 33-35% by 2030 from the 2005 level
   • 45% by 2030 from the 1990 level
   • 50% by 2050 from the 2005 level
   • 45% by 2030 from the 2005 level

   Answer: 45% by 2030 from the 2005 level. The 2022 update raised the target from 33-35% (the 2015 NDC) to 45% below 2005 levels by 2030. It also aims for about 50% of installed power capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030.

8. The principle of 'common but differentiated responsibilities' was formally set out at the:

   • Stockholm Conference, 1972
   • Rio Earth Summit, 1992
   • Paris climate conference (COP21), 2015
   • Kyoto conference, 1997

   Answer: Rio Earth Summit, 1992. The Rio Declaration and the UNFCCC (1992) recognised that all countries share responsibility for the environment, but developed countries bear more because of their historical emissions and greater capacity.

9. Which of these is NOT an indicator used in the UNDP's Human Development Index?

   • Life expectancy at birth
   • Mean and expected years of schooling
   • Poverty headcount ratio
   • Gross National Income per capita (PPP)

   Answer: Poverty headcount ratio. HDI combines three dimensions: a long and healthy life (life expectancy), knowledge (schooling) and a decent standard of living (GNI per capita at PPP). Poverty is measured separately in the MPI.

10. Consider the following statements about the International Solar Alliance: 1. It was launched by India and France at COP21 in Paris. 2. Its headquarters is in Gurugram, India. Which is/are correct?

    • 1 only
    • 2 only
    • Both 1 and 2
    • Neither 1 nor 2

    Answer: Both 1 and 2. The ISA was launched on 30 November 2015 at the Paris climate conference by India and France to promote solar energy. Its secretariat is in Gurugram, Haryana, making it an international treaty body based in India.