Read the passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 3...

Read the passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 31 to 40.

        Contrary to the trope of a regulatory vacuum, geoengineering already sits under a dense, restrictive canopy of norms. Since 2008, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) instituted an effective moratorium on ocean fertilization, widened in 2010 to a de facto pause on geoengineering; Parties reaffirmed it in 2016 and again at COP16 in 2024 as outdoor trials proliferated. The moratorium permits only narrowly tailored, justified, small-scale research subject to impact assessment and no transboundary harm, while commercial purposes are excluded. [I] The problem, therefore, is erosion of compliance, not a lacuna of rules.

        Marine interventions are likewise cabined by the London Convention/Protocol: ocean fertilization was effectively prohibited in 2008, and 2013 amendments created a rubric to regulate marine geoengineering, with 2023 guidance deferring activities other than legitimate scientific research. It has signaled restrictions on biomass dumping, ocean alkalinity enhancement, marine cloud brightening, and microbubbles. Exemptions for research are tightly drawn and explicitly preclude commercial elements, acting as a bulwark against carbon-credit schemes masquerading as science. [II] Even so, proposals crowd the horizon.

        Beyond treaty silos, the precautionary principle and duties to prevent transboundary harm – codified in the Rio Declaration and echoed in CBD decisions – loom large. [III] In 2024, International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) advised that introducing pollutants or transforming one form of pollution into another could breach United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), while human-rights bodies warn that solar and marine schemes may jeopardise life, food, water, health, and Indigenous Free, prior and informed consent (FPIC). Modeling even anticipates monsoon disruption; those least responsible for emissions would bear disproportionate risk, including future generations under the Maastricht Principles.

        Despite this architecture, experiments have multiplied: hundreds of open-air and open-water trials, sharply accelerating since 2019. Voluntary carbon markets, abetted by contested COP29 rules on removals, risk opening a “backdoor for commercialization” that undermines mitigation and rewards polluters. [IV] Counter-currents gather: over 500 scholars urge a Solar Geoengineering Non-Use Agreement; the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment and the European Parliament endorse non-use, with Vanuatu, Fiji, and others voicing support; governments are pressed to forbid outdoor trials, withhold public funding and patents, and enforce existing moratoria.

(Adapted from Center for International Environmental Law, Mary Church, “Geoengineering Governance: Restrictive Framework Must Be Upheld and Strengthened,” March 5, 2025)

Question 31. The word moratorium in paragraph 1 mostly means ______.

A. purely symbolic                                        B. temporarily prohibitive

C. broadly permissive                                D. loosely discretionary

Question 32. Where in the passage does the following sentence best fit?

This precautionary logic reverberates outside environmental treaties, extending into human-rights jurisprudence.

A. [I]                        B. [II]                                C. [III]                                D. [IV]

Question 33. Which of the following best summarises paragraph 2?

A. Market instruments can responsibly scale marine projects if oversight gradually improves.

B. Ocean sciences are unregulated, so experimentation proceeds wherever funding arises.

C. Marine cloud brightening is endorsed, while microbubble trials are immediately deployable.

D. LC/LP constrains marine geoengineering, allowing only narrow, non-commercial research under strict screening.

Question 34. What does the CBD allow under its moratorium?

A. Only small, justified, controlled studies                B. Broad pilots with private finance

C. National opt-outs without review                        D. Marketplace-led demonstration projects

Question 35. According to paragraph 3, the precautionary principle requires refraining from actions that could cause ______.

A. modest or reversible damage where compensation is assured afterward

B. severe or irreversible harm amid significant scientific uncertainty that persists

C. limited impacts provided regional consultations are timely and inclusive

D. localized harm when benefits demonstrably exceed regional externalities

Question 36. What is the core risk posed by voluntary carbon markets, according to the passage?

A. They underprice removals but strengthen patent transparency overall.

B. They centralize governance within UN shipping and seabed bodies.

C. They ensure robust audits that accelerate treaty ratification timelines.

D. They create a loophole that commercializes risky trials and dilutes mitigation.

Question 37. The phrase backdoor for commercialization in paragraph 4 refers to ______.

A. loophole                B. subsidy                        C. embargo                        D. license

Question 38. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A. New treaties are unnecessary because national courts already ban all outdoor trials worldwide.

B. LC/LP rules have fully entered into force, rendering additional protocols redundant.

C. Immediate priorities imply enforcing restrictive treaties rather than inventing new ones, because proliferating experiments are driven by market incentives and weak compliance.

D. Human-rights bodies endorse solar geoengineering if FPIC is obtained from coastal communities.

Question 39. Which of the following best paraphrases the underlined sentence in paragraph 2?

Exemptions for research are tightly drawn and explicitly preclude commercial elements, acting as a bulwark against carbon-credit schemes masquerading as science.

A. Research projects may sell credits if peer-reviewed results confirm permanent carbon storage capacity and demonstrate additionality across baseline scenarios.

B. The research exception is narrow and bans commercial motives, blocking offset-market projects disguised as experiments from circumventing restrictive treaty obligations.

C. Commercial pilots are permitted when accompanied by transparent registries and post-trial remediation funds ensuring accountability and environmental harm prevention.

D. Any study linked to patents is invalid unless sponsored by intergovernmental agencies guaranteeing scientific integrity and prohibiting private profit extraction.

Question 40. Which of the following best summarises the passage?

A. Existing international rules already restrict geoengineering; weak compliance and market pressures demand stricter enforcement and momentum toward non-use.

B. Geoengineering is unregulated; governments should accelerate deployment while drafting standards later.

C. Carbon markets fix governance gaps by funding rapid demonstrations across ocean and atmosphere.

D. Human-rights law is irrelevant to environmental decision-making regarding climate interventions.