Environment & Ecology — Glossary

Adaptation finance is funding directed at helping countries and communities adjust to the actual and expected impacts of climate change to reduce vulnerability.

A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with at least 1,500 endemic vascular plant species that has lost 70% or more of its original primary vegetation.

The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 is an Indian statute enacted to conserve biological diversity, ensure sustainable use of its components, and secure fair and equitable benefit-sharing from biological resources.

A biosphere reserve is a large protected area combining core, buffer, and transition zones to reconcile biodiversity conservation with sustainable human use under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme.

Biosphere reserves are large protected areas of representative ecosystems designated under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme to reconcile biodiversity conservation with sustainable human use.

A Carbon Credit Trading Scheme is a market mechanism that lets entities buy and sell certified units representing reductions or removals of one tonne of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions.

A carbon sink is a natural or artificial reservoir that absorbs and stores more atmospheric carbon dioxide than it releases, thereby reducing net greenhouse gas concentrations.

The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure is an India-launched global partnership of governments, UN agencies, banks and the private sector promoting climate- and disaster-resilient infrastructure systems.

COP28 was the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, held in Dubai, UAE, in 2023, which delivered the first Global Stocktake and a pledge to transition away from fossil fuels.

Ecological succession is the orderly, progressive sequence of changes in species composition and community structure of an ecosystem over time until a stable climax community is reached.

The Energy Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2022 amends India's Energy Conservation Act, 2001 to mandate carbon-credit trading, renewable energy use, and energy-efficiency norms for buildings and industries.

The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 is an umbrella Indian statute empowering the Central Government to protect and improve environmental quality and control pollution across all media.

The Forest Rights Act, 2006 is an Indian statute that recognises and vests individual and community forest rights in Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers.

A high-yield retention list is a curated set of frequently-tested, high-return facts and concepts that a candidate consolidates for rapid revision before competitive examinations.

The International Solar Alliance is a treaty-based intergovernmental organisation, headquartered in India, that coordinates deployment of solar energy among sun-rich member states.

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework is the 2022 international agreement under the Convention on Biological Diversity setting four goals and 23 targets to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

The Minamata Convention on Mercury is a 2013 global treaty that controls anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds across their life cycle.

Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) is a India-led global initiative launched in 2022 that promotes individual and community behavioural change toward sustainable consumption to combat climate change.

The National Air Quality Index is India's composite metric, launched in 2015, that converts concentrations of eight pollutants into a single colour-coded number from 0 to 500.

The National Biodiversity Authority is the statutory body established under India's Biological Diversity Act, 2002 to regulate access to biological resources and ensure fair benefit-sharing.

The National Green Hydrogen Mission is India's flagship programme, approved in January 2023, to make the country a global hub for production, use and export of green hydrogen.

The National Green Tribunal is a specialised statutory body established under the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 for the expeditious adjudication of environmental disputes in India.

The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission is one of India's eight missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change, launched in 2010 to promote grid-connected and off-grid solar power.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority is a statutory body under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, that oversees Project Tiger and India's tiger reserves.

A nationally determined contribution is a country's self-set climate action pledge submitted under the Paris Agreement, detailing emission-reduction and adaptation commitments.

Net Zero by 2070 is India's pledge to balance its anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions with removals by the year 2070, announced at the Glasgow climate summit.

The New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) is the post-2025 climate finance target adopted at COP29 in 2024, replacing the earlier USD 100 billion annual goal.

Panchamrit is the set of five climate commitments announced by India at the COP26 summit in Glasgow in 2021, headlined by a net-zero target for 2070.

PM-KUSUM is a Government of India scheme launched in 2019 to promote solar pumps and grid-connected solar power plants among farmers for irrigation and income.

The polluter pays principle holds that the entity responsible for producing pollution must bear the cost of preventing, controlling, and remediating the resulting environmental damage.

The precautionary principle holds that where an activity threatens serious or irreversible environmental harm, lack of full scientific certainty must not be used to postpone preventive measures.

Project Tiger is a centrally sponsored conservation programme launched by the Government of India in 1973 to protect the Bengal tiger and its habitat through a network of dedicated tiger reserves.

A statutory body, provision, or power is one created, defined, or authorised by a specific Act of the legislature, deriving its existence and authority directly from statute.

The Supreme Court is the highest appellate and constitutional court of a state, exercising final jurisdiction over the interpretation of law and the constitution.

Sustainable development is development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, balancing economic growth, social equity and environmental protection.

The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 is the central Indian statute that protects wild animals, birds and plants and provides for declaration and management of protected areas.

The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 is the central Indian statute that protects wild animals, birds and plants and regulates hunting, trade and the management of protected areas.