RAS question
Arrange the following in the correct chronological order of their adoption: 1. Kigali Amendment to Montreal Protocol 2. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 3. UNCCD (UN Convention to Combat Desertification) 4. Paris Agreement
Correct answer: (A) 2 to 3 to 4 to 1.
The correct chronological order is Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992, UNCCD in 1994, Paris Agreement in 2015, and the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol in 2016.
Explanation
The Convention on Biological Diversity was adopted in 1992 at Rio. UNCCD comes next: the UN legal history records the convention's adoption in Paris in June 1994, so it cannot precede CBD. The Paris Agreement is later, adopted on 12 December 2015 at Paris. The Kigali Amendment is the most recent of these four instruments. The UNEP Ozone Secretariat identifies it as the 2016 amendment to the Montreal Protocol that called for a phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs. That phase-down matters because HFCs are powerful greenhouse gases used as refrigerants, and reducing them is expected to prevent up to 0.5 degrees C of warming by 2100.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) CBD was adopted in 1992, while UNCCD was adopted in 1994, so CBD must precede UNCCD.
- (C) The Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015, and the Kigali Amendment followed in 2016.
- (D) The Kigali Amendment came in 2016, making it the latest of the four instruments rather than the starting point.
Concept
The chronology of major global environmental conventions and climate agreements links institutional history with current climate-governance themes in RAS preparation.