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If you are preparing for the UGC-NET/JRF exam, you must know about different environmental protocols for attempting questions in your UGC-NET Paper 1. These environmental protocols are a part of your UGC-NET Paper 1 syllabus. Therefore, you must study them thoroughly and understand the fundamentals associated with each of these protocols. Remembering these protocols will also deepen your knowledge when you prepare for literary theories like ecocriticism, green economy, and climate literature. Environment is one of the basic elements widely used in literature.

In this blog, we are going to cover some of the most important protocols to make your UGC-NET exam preparation smoother.

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Why Do Environmental Protocols Matter in English Literature?

Most influential writers like Amitav Ghosh, Arundhati Roy, or Margaret Atwood have dealt deeply with environmental concerns like climate change, natural disasters, and ecological injustice. Their works resonate with global agreements like the Kyoto Protocol, Paris Agreement, and Montreal Protocol.

Understanding these protocols helps you to contextualize literary texts in a climate-conscious framework. This will also help you to grasp the influence of such protocols on these texts and worldwide.

UGC-NET Paper 1 Syllabus

There is a complete section focusing on People, Development, and Environment in your UGC-NET Paper 1 syllabus. When preparing for this section, you need to know these environmental protocols. Knowing their objectives, years of enforcement, and significance helps you score well in this high-weightage topic.

Let’s dive into the top protocols you must remember.

1. Kyoto Protocol: The Kyoto Protocol, adopted in 1997 and enforced in 2005, is a landmark climate change agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Overall, these targets add up to an average 5 per cent emission reduction compared to 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008–2012 (the first commitment period). The Kyoto Protocol is based on the principles and provisions of the Convention and follows its annex-based structure. It only binds developed countries, and places a heavier burden on them under the principle of “common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities”, because it recognizes that they are largely responsible for the current high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere.

To understand the literary connection, you might consider reading Amitav Ghosh’s The Great Derangement, which critiques global inaction on climate change. To understand Ghosh’s arguments, we need to clearly examine how Kyoto protocol failed.

2. The Paris Agreement: It is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 countries at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21), held in Paris, France on December 12, 2015. The treaty entered into force on November 4, 2016. The agreement primarily focuses on keeping global warming well below 2°C and ideally under 1.5°C.

To understand the literary connection, in climate fiction (cli-fi) — such as Kim Stanley Robinson’s works — the Paris Agreement forms the political backdrop for environmental narratives.

3. The Cartagena Protocol: This was adopted in January 29, 2000 as a supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity and entered into force on September 11, 2003. This international treaty governs the movement of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology from one country to another.

Literary Connection: In texts like Atwood’s “Oryx and Crake,” genetic modification is a key theme. The Cartagena Protocol offers real-world context to dystopian biotechnology.

4. The Nagoya Protocol: Adopted in 2010, the Nagoya Protocol ensures fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources, particularly for indigenous communities.

Most postcolonial ecocriticism deals with resource exploitation and indigenous knowledge. Knowing the Nagoya Protocol deepens your understanding of novels dealing with eco-colonialism.

5. The Ramsar Convention: The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, more commonly known as the Ramsar Convention, is an international agreement promoting the conservation and wise use of wetlands. It is the only global treaty to focus on a single ecosystem. India has over 75 Ramsar sites — a potential static GK and environmental question in UGC-NET Paper 1.

Wetlands are often romanticized in regional literatures. Understanding Ramsar helps connect ecological imagery in poetry and novels with conservation urgency.

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6. The Basel Convention: This treaty controls transboundary movements of hazardous waste, ensuring it is disposed of in an environmentally sound manner.

The global South often bears the brunt of waste dumping — an issue echoed in postcolonial ecological literature. Arundhati Roy critiques this injustice in her nonfiction writings.

7. The Montreal Protocol: Signed in 1987, the Montreal Protocol aims to phase out ozone-depleting substances like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and 99 other man-made chemicals. It is considered the most successful environmental agreement, with the ozone layer now on a path to recovery. The Montreal Protocol sits under the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (the Vienna Convention).

Adopted on September 16, 1987, the Protocol is, to date, one of the rare treaties to achieve universal ratification.

The Montreal Protocol phases down the consumption and production of different ODS in a step-wise manner, with different timetables for developed and developing countries. When these ODS are released, these chemicals damage the stratospheric ozone layer, Earth’s protective shield that protects humans and the environment from harmful levels of ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

Poetry and prose from the 1980s and 90s reflect fears of ozone holes, nuclear winters, and planetary decay. Understanding Montreal helps analyze these concerns.

How to prepare for environment protocols for UGC-NET/JRF exam?

To prepare for this section, you need to know these fundamental protocols along with their year of adoption and implementation, their basic aims, and try to solve previous years’ question papers to understand the question patterns. You can also prepare a mind map to remember them. You can also UGC-NET paper 1 notes pdf​ to cover all these topics without fail. If you need crash course, you can contact our team. In this crash course, you will receive all live sessions and UGC-NET Paper 1 online classes. You do not have to worry too much. Just call our team and enroll yourself! You will also get guidance from our expert faculty for UGC-NET paper 1. To enroll in the best UGC-NET crash course, call now!

FAQs

1. Are environmental protocols part of the UGC-NET English Literature syllabus?

Answer: While environmental protocols are not directly part of the UGC-NET English Literature syllabus, they appear in Paper 1 (General Paper) under the People, Development, and Environment section. However, understanding them helps build critical connections in ecocriticism, green literature, and climate fiction, which are increasingly important in literary studies.

2. How many questions are asked from environmental topics in UGC-NET Paper 1?

Answer: On an average, 4–5 questions are asked from the People, Development, and Environment section in Paper 1. These may include topics like climate change, protocols, pollution, biodiversity, and sustainability.

3. Where can I get reliable study material for these topics?

Answer: You can refer to:

• NTA UGC-NET Paper 1 guidebooks
• Government websites like UNFCCC, UNEP, CBD
• Sahitya Classes’ UGC-NET Paper 1 online classes offer recorded video lectures, mock tests, and UGC-NET Paper 1 notes tailored for UGC-NET aspirants like you.

4. What is the best strategy to memorize environmental protocols for the exam?

Answer: Use mnemonics, mind maps, and chronological charts. Practice MCQs daily, and relate each protocol to a literary text or real-life event to improve retention and contextual understanding.

If you are interested in accessing the latest hardcopy and softcopy notes, course syllabus, previous years’ question papers, answer keys, crash courses, Google Drive Course, and wish to receive personal guidance from Prof. Vineet Pandey, please fill out the form!