UPSC Essentials | Mains answer practice — GS 3 : Questions on India’s climate targets for 2035 and significance of the Artemis II mission (Week 148)

QUESTION 2

Discuss the objectives and significance of the Artemis II mission. What are the challenges related to Artemis II in building a long-term lunar base?

QUESTION 1: India’s recently announced climate targets for 2035, which have been described as “modest but significant”. Discuss how their implications will affect India’s economic growth and global climate commitments.

Relevance: It is linked to India’s commitments under the Paris Agreement and evolving climate diplomacy. It is also important for topics like renewable energy transition, green finance, and sustainable development. Aspirants should keep an eye on COP meetings and India’s leadership role in climate negotiations.

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

Introduction:

— India revealed its climate targets for 2035, promising to make further progress on cutting the carbon intensity of its economy, expanding the deployment of renewable energy and creating carbon sinks from forests and trees.

— India’s reaffirmation of the clean energy pathway it has chosen for itself is extremely important in the current global situation in which countries are being forced to reevaluate their policy options regarding energy, economy and security.

Body:

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

— India said it would ensure that at least 60% of its electricity installed capacity in 2035 was based on non-fossil fuel sources, up from the 50% target it had set for 2030. It has promised to attain at least a 47% reduction in emissions intensity, or emissions per unit of GDP, on 2005 levels, which is two percentage points more than its current target of 45% for 2030. And, it has promised to create a carbon sink that is at least 3.5 to 4 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent larger than what existed in 2005.

— Each of the new targets marks a progression over existing commitments for 2030, a mandatory requirement under the 2015 Paris Agreement. Under this 2015 pact, every country is obligated to decide upon, and implement, a set of climate actions that help the global fight against climate change. These are referred to as nationally-determined contributions, or NDCs— emphasising the fact that countries themselves decide the nature and scale of climate actions.

— India’s new climate targets seem to be only a slight enhancement over its existing 2030 commitments, which it is on course to achieve well ahead of time. The renewable energy target has already been met and the other two might also be close to being achieved once fresh data on those indicators are available.

— India, the world’s third biggest emitter and the third largest consumer of energy, has signalled that it remains committed to the clean energy pathway and enhanced climate action.

Conclusion:

— Finding low-cost, long-term finance — both from domestic as well as international sources — for green investments has been identified as one of the core objectives in India’s 2035 climate plan.

— With the relatively modest upgrade in targets, India also seems to be reiterating its position that while it remains fully committed to climate action, it would not allow international pressure to dictate the pace of those actions. India’s 2035 NDC, which is yet to be published and submitted to UN Climate Change, is expected to have a strong emphasis on adaptation actions.

(Source: India’s new climate targets are modest, but significant. Here’s why)

Points to Ponder

Dependence on coal vs expansion of renewable energy

Need for climate finance and technology transfer from developed nations

Related Previous Year Questions

What is Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS)? What is the potential role of CCUS in tackling climate change? (2025)

Write a review on India’s climate commitments under the Paris Agreement (2015) and mention how these have been further strengthened in COP26 (2021). In this direction, how has the first Nationally Determined Contribution intended by India been updated in 2022? (2025)

QUESTION 2: Discuss the objectives and significance of the Artemis II mission. What are the challenges related to Artemis II in building a long-term lunar base?

Relevance: The topic reflects advancements in space technology. It is also important for understanding the shift toward long-term space habitation and space economy. Aspirants must focus on the space missions as the topic is significant for GS 3.

(L-R) Artemis II NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, commander; Victor Glover, pilot, and Christina Koch, mission specialist, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist, pose for a photograph at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 17, 2026. Photo: NASA

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

Introduction:

— The United States is preparing to send astronauts around the Moon again after half a century, but the mission has faced repeated delays. Nasa is preparing for its new mission, Artemis II, which is part of its new lunar programme. The mission involves sending four astronauts into space on a journey around the Moon and back to Earth. This is set to be the first human mission of this nature since the Apollo programme.

— The mission is part of the broader programme to create a human presence on the Moon. However, this mission is not intended for landing on the Moon. Instead, it is meant to pave the way for humans to return to the lunar surface.

Body:

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

— The Moon is believed to retain many secrets regarding our early solar system. Unlike our planet, its surface has remained unchanged for billions of years. As such, it retains its craters and geological history. By examining the Moon’s features and composition, scientists believe that we shall gain more insight into how our planet was formed and how it came to acquire water. Future missions in this programme are planned to explore the South Pole, which humans have never explored. It is assumed that this area is rich in ice, which may be very useful for our mission.

— The Moon may have some valuable resources, including rare elements and helium-3, which could be used for new energy sources. Although this is all still theoretical, it is generating interest from all over.

Challenges

— What NASA is setting out to do is to establish a facility for permanent human presence on the Moon, much like the way it is currently being done on the International Space Station (ISS), a space-based laboratory which has been continuously manned for about quarter of a century now. But such a facility will take time to be built, requiring several Moon missions: carrying humans, robots, equipment and fuel that can exploit and utilise locally-available resources to create a habitat that can sustain human presence over prolonged periods of time.

— The set-up being attempted for the Moon — about 400,000 km away from the Earth — is very similar to the ISS: regular missions carrying humans and logistics, continuous astronaut presence, and ongoing experiments. ISS is just 400 km from the Earth, but has proved to be extremely useful in extending humanity’s understanding of outer space, and in acclimatising them to survive and operate outside the protective environments of the Earth.

Conclusion:

— ISS is all set to retire within the next three to four years, and is likely to be replaced not by one but multiple space stations, set up by private players and countries like China and India. NASA is not planning to send a replacement space station, but said it will continue to maintain its presence in low-earth orbit through industrial and international partners.

(Source: Artemis 2 launch: How NASA’s Moon missions aim to prepare the ground for deeper space exploration, Artemis II to take astronauts around Moon again, over half a century after US’ last trip)

Points to Ponder

Role of alliances like Artemis Accords led by NASA

Gaps in global space governance (Outer Space Treaty limitations)

Related Previous Year Question

India has achieved remarkable successes in unmanned space missions including the Chandrayaan and Mars Orbiter Mission, but has not ventured into manned space mission. What are the main obstacles to launching a manned space mission, both in terms of technology and logistics? Examine critically. (2017)

Previous Mains Answer Practice

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 146)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 147)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 146)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 147)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 146)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 147)

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