General Studies III · Topic
Conservation pollution and environmental assessment
Official syllabus
Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
UPSC CSE 2026 notification
What this covers
Conservation protects ecological processes and resources; pollution concerns harmful additions to environmental media; degradation describes declining environmental condition.
Key ideas
- Conservation
- Pollution
- Degradation
- EIA
- Prevention and governance
Subtopics 5
- 01ConservationConservation seeks to sustain species, habitats, ecological functions and the benefits people derive from them.
- 02Environmental pollutionPollution occurs when a contaminant or harmful form of energy enters air, water, soil or another medium at a level that can impair use or health.
- 03Environmental degradationEnvironmental degradation is a decline in the condition or functioning of land, water, air or ecosystems.
- 04Environmental impact assessmentEnvironmental impact assessment (EIA) systematically examines likely environmental effects of a proposed activity before a clearance decision.
- 05Prevention mitigation and governanceEnvironmental governance aims first to avoid harm, then reduce or manage unavoidable impacts and restore damaged systems where possible.