PYQ Vault · Paper 2 · Contemporary Global Concerns — I

The recent move of USA to withdraw from the Paris

How the answer moves

The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.

Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes
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Body flow
R1 Paris (2015) = rare voluntary consensus, bottom-up NDCs, <2°C → US exit a real setback (rests on collective commitment, not enforcement) R2 US withdrawal (Trump 2017 -~. finalised 2020) = retreat from multilateralism — tests whether a consensus regime survives one major emitter leaving
Counter-view
Falkner: exit weakens the collective commitment the accord depends on — Ban Ki-moon: US as 2nd-largest polluter burdens the carbon budget + makes finance harder — domino effect: developing states may relax pledges (decarbonisation cost + energy security) — onus shifts to EU / China / India (none experienced in
Conclusion routes
a multilateral regime) + unclear Katowice Rulebook → dilution risk — IPCC: 1.5°C budget gone by 2030 even if Paris followed — bottom-up design absorbs the exit, US rejoins under Biden → Stern: link climate action to development for equity one emitter's exit can unravel a voluntary consensus (contagion, diluted finance) vs a bottom-up architecture is resilient — survives exits and re-entries, held together by remaining emitters, finance and equity R1 prospects turn on sustained finance + CBDR + leadership of the remaining emitters, not any single state R2 setback real but not permanent — future secured by integrating climate with equitable development, not the presence of the US

Model answer

Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.

Handwritten model answer — UPSC PSIR 2017, Contemporary Global Concerns — I