Question 81 from UPSC CSE 2021 - Environment

Question

The 'Common Carbon Metric', supported by UNEP, has been developed for

Accepted Answer

Correct Option: A. assessing the carbon footprint of building operations around the world

Strategy: Focus on the keywords 'Common Carbon Metric', 'UNEP', and 'building operations' to identify the specific, technical metric. Eliminate overly broad options, such as government-wide or farming-wide emissions trading. Select the option that aligns with building-level operational carbon assessment, which is uniquely described in choice (a).

Key Info: The Common Carbon Metric (CCM) is an internationally supported methodology developed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to measure energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from building operations.

**Key aspects of the CCM:**
- It establishes a standardized method for assessing and benchmarking the operational carbon footprint of buildings.
- It allows for comparison across different building types, climate zones, and national boundaries.
- The metric focuses solely on operational emissions (e.g., heating, cooling, lighting) and does not assess embodied carbon from materials or construction.

**Purpose and Application:**
The CCM enables cities and countries to report building-related emissions in a standardized manner to global bodies like the UNFCCC. While not a green building rating tool itself, it is consistent with methodologies such as LEED and BREEAM. UNEP developed the CCM to create a common approach for reliable GHG inventories in the built environment, a sector responsible for nearly 40% of global energy-related CO2 emissions. The metric supports both top-down and bottom-up analysis, helping policymakers and building operators manage the carbon footprint of building use.

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Option B: enabling commercial farming entities around the world to enter carbon emission trading

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Option C: enabling governments to assess the overall carbon footprint caused by their countries

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Option D: assessing the overall carbon footprint caused by the use of fossil fuels by the world in a unit time