Environment

Strategy To Prepare & Environment

Environment is included in the GS III paper in UPSC CS (Main) and in General Studies in
Prelims. Since 2013, the Prelims for Indian Forest Services is combined with the UPSC Civil
Services, which is why the weightage of the environment topic has increased. At times, as
many as 33% of the questions in the General Studies paper are asked from the environment
topic, hence it is important to prepare it extremely well.

Secondly, issues like global warming and climate change have become some of the most
major issues of the 21st century, hence, a thorough knowledge in this area would enable the
potential bureaucrats to ensure they are able to implement their knowledge in policymaking.

We’ve listed the micro-topics for environment and ecology for UPSC and also discussed the
preparation strategy to effectively cover the syllabus.

UPSC Environment Syllabus

Conservation What is Biodiversity?

Types of Biodiversity – Genetic, Species,
Ecosystem, etc.
Importance of Biodiversity – Ecosystem
Services, BioResources of Economic
Importance, Social Benefits, etc.
Reasons for Loss of Biodiversity
Conservation:
In-situ & Ex-Situ
Eco-Sensitive Areas
Ecological Hotspots
National Guidelines, Legislations & Other
Programmes.
International Agreements & Groupings

Environmental Types of Pollution & Pollutants

Pollution & Impact of Pollution & Degradation
Degradation
Ozone Layer Depletion and Ozone Hole
Greenhouse Gas Effect & Global
 Warming
Eutrophication
Desertification
Acid Rain
Hazardous Waste, etc.
Causes/Sources of Pollution &
Degradation
Prevention & Control of Pollution &
Degradation
National Environment Agencies,
Legislations and Policies
International Environment Agencies &
Agreements

Environmental What is EIA?

Impact Assessment Indian Guidelines & Legislations
(EIA)
EIA Process
Need & Benefits of EIA
Shortcomings of EIA in India
Measures to Make EIA Effective

Disaster Management Types of Disasters

Management of Disasters
Community Level Disaster Management
Government Initiatives on Disaster
Management

How To Prepare Environment UPSC Prelims and

Mains

There is a significant overlap in the syllabus with Geography, Science &

Technology as well as current affairs. Hence, if you cover the syllabus of
the environment and ecology part well, then surely, you’ll have an edge in
the other subjects as well. Here’s the preparation strategy devised by CL
experts:
1. Read the syllabus: Go through the syllabus of the particular subject
and try to learn it so as to map the topics in your mind. By doing so,
you will be able to filter out irrelevant study material and keep your
preparation focused.
 2. Glance through PYQs: PYQs will give you a basic understanding of
the level of the questions that are asked which will help you in
selecting your resources very judiciously.
3. Read Biology NCERT Class XII: The last four chapters from this
book covers all the basic and foundational level concepts concisely.
So, reading them would introduce you to some terms that can come
in the exam.
4. Current Affairs: Current affairs are another important area with
respect to environment and ecology topics. Read editorials from the
Hindu and articles from monthly magazines like Yojana and
Kurukshetra and prepare notes from them. Next, keep revising them
to retain the concepts.

Booklist for Environment Syllabus for UPSC Civil Services

Examination
1. NCERT Class XII Biology - Last 4 Chapters (Must)
2. Shankar IAS Book on Environment
3. International and National Issues from Hindu Newspaper and
Yojana Magazine