UPSC Essentials | Mains answer practice — GS 3 : Questions on Global Plastics Treaty negotiations and brain-computer interfaces (Week 116)

QUESTION 1

Discuss the role of consensus-based decision-making and legally binding provisions with reference to the failure of the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations.

QUESTION 2

How does the development of password-protected inner-speech brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) balance the potential to restore communication for people with paralysis against concerns about privacy and mental autonomy?

General points on the structure of the answers

Introduction

— The introduction of the answer is essential and should be restricted to 3-5 lines. Remember, a one-liner is not a standard introduction.

— It may consist of basic information by giving some definitions from the trusted source and authentic facts.

Body

— It is the central part of the answer and one should understand the demand of the question to provide rich content.

— The answer must be preferably written as a mix of points and short paragraphs rather than using long paragraphs or just points.

— Using facts from authentic government sources makes your answer more comprehensive. Analysis is important based on the demand of the question, but do not over analyse.

QUESTION 1: Discuss the role of consensus-based decision-making and legally binding provisions with reference to the failure of the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations.

Note: This is not a model answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.

Introduction:

— After ten days of negotiations in Geneva, including many rounds of closed-door meetings and five plenary sessions, critical efforts to reach an agreement on the first-ever pact to end plastic pollution failed. This was the second time in eight months that negotiations for a global plastics convention had failed.

— Talks ended on the final day when it became evident that major disagreements over the scope, ambition, and core set of legally binding measures to combat plastic pollution remained unresolved. The United Nations Environment Programme’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) was in charge of the second portion of the fifth session, which aimed to produce a legally enforceable treaty.

— The treaty was being negotiated after a historic resolution was adopted in 2022 to develop a treaty on plastic pollution, including the marine environment.

Body:

You may incorporate some of the following points in your answer:

— Unresolved conflicts over basic articles of the treaty’s wording, such as its scope, plastic definitions, clauses addressing the life-cycle of plastics, including production reduction, and including compounds of concern, pushed the negotiations off track once more.

— These discussions operate on the basis of “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed,” so consensus is critical, even though many countries advocated for voting to break deadlocks.

— Furthermore, governments disagreed on the terminology used in the treaty’s text on the methods of implementation, which refers to the mechanism put in place to assist countries in enacting stronger plastic pollution controls. This was a sticking issue for India, Cuba, and Malaysia, among others.

— The negotiations were hampered by entrenched viewpoints held by two blocs of country groups. The “high-ambition coalition” group, which included Norway, Panama, the European Union, and the United Kingdom, was on one side. These countries were outspoken in their support for legally binding steps to reduce plastic production, limit hazardous chemicals used in plastic items, and make explicit the health risks of plastics. They made it apparent that reducing plastic manufacture would help reduce fossil fuel use and consumption in general, rather than just plastic trash.

— The other grouping was the like-minded countries group, which included largely petrochemical and oil-producing countries such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Russia. China and India supported them. These countries claimed that the draft pact favoured commerce measures over environmental ones. These countries, which account for the vast bulk of the world’s population, contended that plastic was required for development and that cuts in basic polymer output should not be implemented.

Conclusion:

— India generally maintained its position as announced in Busan, Korea, partnering with oil-producing countries to resist output reduction. However, in its statement on August 9, it expressed for the first time its objection to including any global list to phase out plastic products in the treaty text.

— India opposes product phase-out lists. Even domestically, it has already issued warnings prohibiting single-use plastics. It also opposed a separate article on supply or efforts to limit primary polymer manufacturing, claiming the “right to development of member states.”

(Source: Why the plastics treaty negotiations failed again)

Points to Ponder

Read about Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee

Read about Global Plastic Treaty

Related Previous Year Questions

Industrial pollution of river water is a significant environmental issue in India. Discuss the various mitigation measures to deal with this problem and also the government’s initiatives in this regard. (2024)

Describe the major outcomes of the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). What are the commitments made by India in this conference? (2021)

QUESTION 2: How does the development of password-protected inner-speech brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) balance the potential to restore communication for people with paralysis against concerns about privacy and mental autonomy?

Note: This is not a model answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.

Introduction:

— Scientists have developed a brain-computer interface (BCI) — a device that allows the human brain to communicate with external software or hardware — which works only when the user thinks of a preset password.

— The findings were detailed in a study, ‘Inner speech in motor cortex and implications for speech neuroprostheses’, published in the journal Cell. The new system was developed by researchers based at Stanford University (the United States).

Body:

You may incorporate some of the following points in your answer:

— BCIs enable users to control an application or device using only their minds. When someone wants to interact with an application — for example, turn on a lamp — they must first decide what they want to do, then coordinate and use the muscles in their arms, legs, or feet to perform the action — such as pressing the lamp’s on/off switch with their fingers. The equipment – in this case, the bulb — responds to the action.

— BCIs allow people skip the second stage of coordinating and using their muscles to perform an action. Instead, they use a computer to determine the required action before controlling the equipment directly.

— BCIs have emerged as promising tools for people with severe physical disabilities. They are also being used to restore speech in people who have limited reliable control over their muscles.

— The researchers focused on “internal-speech” BCIs, which convert brain signals into text or audio. While these gadgets do not require users to speak out, there is always the possibility that they will accidently decode sentences they did not want to say.

— To address this issue, the researchers “analysed brain signals collected by microelectrodes placed in the motor cortex — the region involved in voluntary movements — of four participants,” according to an article published in Nature. All of these participants had difficulty speaking and were instructed to either try to say a series of words or envision pronouncing them.

— The researchers then examined the recordings of participants’ brain activity. This allowed them to establish that attempted and internal speech originated in the same brain region and produced similar neural signals, while those linked with internal speech were weaker.

— This data was utilised to train artificial intelligence models, which assisted BCIs in interpreting sentences imagined by participants when prompted to think of specific terms. The gadgets properly understood 74% of the imagined sentences.

Conclusion:

— To ensure that the BCIs do not decode sentences that users do not intend to utter, the researchers added a password to the system, allowing users to control when decoding began.

(Source: How scientists built a password-protected mind-reading brain implant)

Points to Ponder

Read more about brain-computer interface

Related Previous Year Question

Introduce the concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI). How does AI help clinical diagnosis? Do you perceive any threat to privacy of the individual in the use of AI in healthcare? (2023)

Previous Mains Answer Practice

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 114)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 115)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 114)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 115)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 114)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 115)

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