The CUET-UG Environmental Studies syllabus covers a wide range of topics related to the environment, its interaction with humans, and the challenges and solutions associated with environmental issues. The syllabus covers fundamental concepts of ecology, biodiversity, environmental pollution, natural resources, environmental management, and sustainable development. It emphasizes human-environment interactions, environmental issues, and their solutions. Understanding of ecosystems, climate change, waste management, and conservation is crucial. Practical knowledge of environmental laws and policies is also expected.

Overview of CUET-UG Environmental Studies Exam 2025

CUET- UG Environmental Studies Latest Syllabus 2025

Note: There will be one Question Paper which will have 50 questions out of which 40 questions need to be attempted.

Unit -1 Human Beings and Nature

(i) Modern schools of ecological thought.
(ii) Deep ecology (Gary Snyder, Earth First) vs. shallow ecology.
(iii) Stewardship of land (e.g. Wendell Berry).
(iv) Social ecology [Marxist environmentalism and socialist ecology (Barry Commoner)].
(v) Feminism.
(vi) Green Politics (e.g. Germany and England).
(vii) Sustainable Development.
Modern schools of ecological thought; definition and basic understanding of DeepEcology as opposed to
Shallow Ecology; Stewardship, Social Ecology – Marxist environmentalism and Socialist Ecology, Eco
feminism, Green political movements of Germany and England and Sustainable Development (basic
concepts).
World Wide Fund for Nature – organisation, mission, strategy for conservation.
Greenpeace – organisation, mission statement, core values, objectives and strategy.

Unit-2 Population and Conservation Ecology

(i) Population dynamics: factors causing population change (birth, death, immigration and emigration);
relation between the factors; age structure and its significance; population pyramids; survivorship curves;
three general shapes r and K strategies.
Factors causing population change (birth, death, immigration and emigration); the relation between the factors;Age structure and its significance; Population Pyramids –interpretation and implications. Rate of change of population – the three general shapes of Survivorship Curves, r and K strategies, and differences between the two.
(ii) Human populations (Malthusian model and demographic transition).
Definition of Carrying Capacity; Malthusian view: the concept of ‘over-population’ and shortage of resources; Questioning Malthus. Population Growth vs. Disparate Consumption of resources within and amongst nations. Definition and understanding of Demographic Transition; Factors influencing demographic transition.
Population Regulation: growth without regulation (exponential); simple population regulation (logistic growth curve); factors regulating population size (space, food and water, territories, predators, weather and climate, parasites and diseases, disasters and self-regulation). Basic understanding of the Exponential growth curve (J – shaped) and Logistic growth curve (S-shaped); Factors regulating population size (space, food and water, territories, predators, weather and climate, parasites and diseases, disasters and self-regulation).

(iii) Threats to the ecosystem: habitat destruction; genetic erosion; loss of diversity; expanding agriculture;
impound water; waste from human societies; and increasing human consumption.
Only a brief understanding of the causes and consequences of threats to provisioning and regulatory functions
of the ecosystem with suitable examples.
(iv) Conservation: importance; the critical state of Indian forests; conflicts surrounding forested areas –
populations and tribals and their rights tourism – poaching – roads – development projects – dams; scientific forestry and its limitations; social
forestry; the role of the forest department; NGOs; joint forestry management; wild life – sanctuaries,
conservation and management in India; Project Tiger as a case study in conservation.
Definition of: Conservation, in situ and ex situ conservation. Importance of Conservation.
In-situ conservation: Wildlife sanctuaries,National parks, Biosphere reserves (definition, objectives,
features, advantages and disadvantages).
Ex-situ conservation: zoos, aquaria, plant collection (objectives, features, advantages and
disadvantages).
Conflicts in managing and conserving Forests: India’s forest cover, issues concerning people living in
and around forests with particular reference to tribal rights; threats to forests: poaching,
developmental projects like roads and dams, over exploitation of forest resources (direct and indirect).
The role of the forest department and NGOsin managing forests.
Some management measures: scientific forestry, social forestry (various types of social forestry), Joint
Forestry Management (JFM), ecotourism.
Definition, scope, advantages and disadvantages of each of the above.
Project Tiger as a case study in conservation: Origin, aims, and objectives, successes, failures.

Unit-3 Monitoring Pollution

(i) Pollution monitoring.
Primary and secondary pollutants.Importance of monitoring air pollution including Ambient Air Quality
Monitoring (gaseous and particulate). Concept of carbon credits and carbon trading in regulating
emissions. Causes for excessive vehicular pollution and various steps taken to regulate pollution-emission
standards for new vehicles, implementation of CNG program, inspection & maintenance program for in-use vehicles, phasing out of old commercial vehicles and promotion of public transport. (ii) Monitoring the atmosphere: techniques.
Monitoring at emission source and of ambient air quality, criteria for monitoring stations, types of stations, number of stations, frequency of data collection, characteristics of ambient air sampling, basic consideration for sampling (to be dealt with in brief). Classification of techniques- manual and instrumental. ManualPassive samplers, High Volume Samplers and Bubbler Systems. Instrumental-photometric techniquesNDIR, Chemiluminescence – principle and use.
(iii) International and national air quality standards.
National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring (NAAQM); the main functions of the Central Pollution Board and the State Pollution Control Board, objectives of air quality standards, New name of NAAQM, National Air Monitoring Programme (NAMP)objectives of the NAMP. Definition of air quality standards and importance; National air quality standards for gases/particulate matter covered under WHO guidelines.
(iv) Water testing: indicators of water quality.
Indicators (electrical conductivity, turbidity, pH, dissolved oxygen, fecal waste, temperature, hardness,
nitrates and sulfates)the significance of each and their interpretations. B.O.D. and C.O.D., theoretical
concept only (lab work for better understanding and not for testing)
(v) Soil testing: indicators of soil type and quality and laboratory work.
Soil indicators- the characteristics of a good soil indicator, the three basic types of soil indicators- biological, physical and chemical, two examples of each. The information provided by each of these types of indicators. Definitions, effects and experiments to find out soil respiration, soil pH, soil aggregate,
infiltration rate and simple methods of controlling each of these.

Unit -4 Third World Development

(i) Urban-rural divide: urbanisation – push and pull factors; consequences on rural and urban sectors; future trends and projections. Causes of migration – push and pull factors, consequences on rural and urban areas and ways to reduce migration. Future trends and projections.
(ii) A critical appraisal of the conventional paradigm of development from the viewpoints of sustainability,
environmental impact and equity. Definition of Development.
An understanding that development has become synonymous with growth. This approach has the
following impacts on the environment: (a) Ignoring negative environmental impacts; (b) Changing
patterns of resource use due to market pressures;
(c) Overuse and exploitation of resources;
(d) Diversion of scarce resources to luxury goods; (e) Disparate access to resources;
(f) Increasing wastes and pollution.
The above to be explained with suitable examples.

Unit -5 Sustainable Agriculture

(i) Traditional Agriculture in India: irrigation systems; crop varieties; techniques for maintaining soil
fertility; impact of colonialism; Indian agriculture at independence – food scarcity – food import – need for
increasing production – the need for land reform; green revolution – HYVs – fertilizers – pesticides – large
irrigation projects (dams); critical appraisal of the green revolution from the viewpoints of agro-bio diversity; soil health; ecological impact of pesticides; energy (petroleum and petrochemicals); ability to reach the poorer sections of the rural communities; sustainability – need for sustainable agriculture – characteristics for sustainable agriculture; techniques of water soil and pest management.
Definition of the following terms: traditional agriculture, natural farming, organic agriculture, modern
agriculture (use of hybrid seeds, high yielding varieties, chemical fertilizers and pesticides), gene revolution (genetically modified seeds) and sustainable agriculture.
Irrigation systems: Macro vs micro irrigation systems – canal irrigation/dam as compared to sprinkler/ drip/ trickle drip/dug wells. Basic features, advantages and disadvantages of each kind. Traditional rainwater harvesting- tankas, khadins, ahar, pynes, zings, johads and eris (suitability of each type in the particular region). Features of pre-colonial agriculture in India: growing for sustenance rather than market; multi-cropping,

Unit-6 Environmental and Natural Resource Economics

(i) Definition: resources; scarcity and growth; natural resource accounting.
Classification of natural resources – on the basis of origin (abiotic and biotic), on the basis of renewability
(renewable and non-renewable), based on development(potential and actual), on the basis of
distribution (ubiquitous and localized); scarcity and growth, natural resource accounting.
Classification of resources as renewable and non-renewable.
Definition, basic principles, advantages and disadvantages of Physical accounting. (ii) GNP vs. other forms of measuring income. GDP, GNP – definitions, advantages and disadvantages of using them as tools formeasuring growth.
(iii) Economic status and welfare (net economic welfare, nature capital, ecological capital, etc.)
A broad overview of the purpose of environmental economics.
Definition and classification: Defensiveexpenditure (its classification); natural/ ecological capital.
(iv) Externalities: cost benefit analysis (social, ecological).
Externalities – definition, kinds (positive andnegative), impacts.
Cost Benefit analysis – Definition, the processin brief, advantages and disadvantages.
EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) -definition, examples, advantages.
(v) Natural capital regeneration.
What is natural capital? Kinds of natural capital; classification of ecosystem services, causes of degradation (acid deposition, airpollution, deforestation, loss of biodiversityand emission of carbon dioxide), ecological footprint and man’s disproportionate use of natural resources, importance of preserving and regenerating natural capital.

Unit-7 International Relations and the Environment

International Relations and the Environment
(i) Trans-national characteristics of environmental issues using case study of Amazonia, Trade in Wild Life and ozone Depletion.
Case study of Amazonia – causes for exploitation of forests, reasons for the acceleration of deforestation, effect of government policies, the ecological value of rainforests, and possible solutions to the problem.
Case study of ivory trade in Africa – reasons for flourishing trade of ivory in the past, steps taken to curb the trade and the consequences of the ban in trade. Case study of ozone depletion – what is meant by the ozone layer and how does it get depleted, (Chapman’s cycle),
potential effects of ozone depletion, common ozone-depleting substances (halons, carbon tetrachloride, CFCs, methyl chloroform, methyl bromide, and HCFCs) and their life span in the atmosphere; Ozone hole; steps taken to control ozone depletion.
(ii) Impact of international politics, national sovereignty and interest.
(iii) International trade: a theoretical perspective; free trade vs. protectionism; import barriers; domestic industry vs. free trade; transnational companies – a historical perspective (colonialism and its lasting impact today); trade between the first and the third world – characteristics – terms of trade; India’s international trade – characteristics major imports and exports – foreign exchange crises the export imperative and its impact on the environment; the case study of aquaculture in India; diversion of
scarce resource from production of subsistence needs to commercial products; toxic waste trade – extent and impact; Globalisation – trade regimes (WTO, GATT, IPR) and their impact on third world.
Definition, advantages and disadvantages of globalization, free trade, protectionism.
Transnational Companies (TNCs) – definition; TNCs and the environment – conflict of interest.

Download Syllabus PDF of CUET UG Environmental Studies – Click Here

How to Start Preparation For CUET UG Environment Studies?

Here’s a breakdown on how to kickstart your preparation for CUET UG Environment Studies:

1. Grasp the Blueprint: Syllabus and Exam Pattern

• Foundation First: The National Testing Agency (NTA) website likely has a detailed syllabus outlining the Environmental Studies topics tested in CUET. This is your primary resource! Get familiar with the themes and sub-topics to plan your study approach.
• Exam Pattern: Alongside the syllabus, understand the exam format. This includes details like the number of questions, weightage of different sections (if applicable), and marking scheme. Knowing the format helps you strategize how to approach the exam.

2. Build a Strong Base with Textbooks:

• NCERT Advantage: NCERT textbooks for Class 11th and 12th standard form a great foundation for Environmental Studies in CUET. These books cover a significant portion of the syllabus and provide clear explanations.
• Explore Further: You can explore other recommended reference books suggested by educators or exam preparation portals.

3. Expand Your Learning with Diverse Resources:

• Go Digital: Move beyond textbooks! Explore online resources like educational channels on YouTube focusing on environmental science or specific CUET syllabus topics.
• Practice Makes Perfect: Educational websites and applications can offer practice questions, mock tests, and concise explanations of concepts.

4. Craft Your Personalized Study Plan:

• Organize and Conquer: Having a structured plan keeps you focused and helps manage your time efficiently. Divide the syllabus into manageable sections and allocate dedicated study time for each. Prioritize topics based on difficulty or weightage in the exam if applicable.
• Revision is Key: Schedule regular revision sessions to solidify concepts and ensure long-term retention.

5. Practice Makes Perfect:

• Test Yourself: Once you’ve covered a section of the syllabus, put your knowledge to the test. Solve previous years’ question papers (PYQs) and sample papers available online or in guidebooks.
• Mock Exams: Enroll in mock tests offered by coaching institutes or online platforms. Mock tests simulate the actual exam environment and help you identify your strengths and weaknesses. Analyze your performance in these tests and use them to refine your study strategy.

6. Stay Current with Environmental Issues:

• Real-World Relevance: Environmental Studies often touches upon contemporary issues like climate change, pollution, and sustainable development. Stay informed by following credible news sources and environmental organizations. This knowledge can be valuable for answering application-based questions.

Bonus Tips:

• Create a Study-Friendly Environment: Find a quiet, well-lit space conducive to concentration. Minimize distractions like your phone or social media while studying.
• Study Group Power: Discussing concepts and solving problems with peers can boost your understanding and make learning more engaging.
• Prioritize Yourself: Schedule breaks during your study sessions to avoid burnout. Prioritize a good night’s sleep and healthy eating habits to stay energized and focused throughout your preparation.

By following these steps and remaining consistent with your efforts, you can effectively prepare for the CUET UG Environmental Studies exam and achieve your desired score.

CUET UG Environment Studies 4 Months Study Plan 

CUET UG Environment Studies preparation over four months. If You Have Your Own Study Plan You Can Also Stick with Your Plan As well here we Give you Techniques that you can implement to Score well in Exam.

Additional Tips:

• Throughout the 4 months, maintain a regular revision schedule.
• Form a study group for discussions and problem-solving.
• Stay hydrated and eat healthy foods to maintain focus and energy.
• Get adequate sleep for optimal cognitive function.
• Don’t hesitate to seek clarification from teachers, mentors, or online forums for any doubts.
• If You Want to Ask Any Doubt Regarding Your Subject CUET UG Environment Studies you Can Ask form Faculties Free of Cost Absolutely Free – Click Here

Top Universities Expected Cut-off 2024 For CUET UG Environment Studies Admissions in UG Courses –

Here are the Expected Cut-off of Inida Top 5 Universites, it may differ from Actual Cut-off For More Information Visit the Official Website of the University

CUET UG Environment Studies Important Topics Chapter Wise As Per Syllabus 

Here’s a table outlining the important topics in each chapter of the CUET UG Environmental Studies syllabus:

CUET-UG Environment Studies Career Scope Overview 

Environment Studies offers a promising Careers for students passionate about environmental conservation and sustainable development. This interdisciplinary field covers a wide range of topics, from ecology and biodiversity to pollution control and climate change.

Career Scope in Environment Studies

The career scope for environmental studies graduates is vast and ever-expanding due to the increasing global focus on environmental issues. Here are some potential career paths:

Government Sector

• Environmental Scientist: Working on research, policy formulation, and implementation related to environmental issues.
• Forest Officer: Managing and conserving forest resources.
• Wildlife Conservationist: Protecting wildlife and their habitats.
• Pollution Control Officer: Monitoring and controlling pollution levels.

Private Sector

• Environmental Consultant: Providing expert advice to industries and organizations on environmental compliance and sustainability.
• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Specialist: Assessing the environmental impacts of projects.
• Sustainability Officer: Developing and implementing sustainability strategies for companies.
• Environmental Educator: Creating awareness about environmental issues.

Research and Academia

• Environmental Researcher: Conducting research on various environmental topics.
• Lecturer/Professor: Teaching Environment Studies at colleges and universities.

Non-Profit Organizations (NGOs)

• Project Coordinator: Managing environmental projects and campaigns.
• Advocacy Officer: Promoting environmental awareness and policy changes.

Key Skills for Success

To excel in the field of Environment Studies, you need a strong foundation in:

• Scientific knowledge: Understanding ecological principles, biodiversity, pollution, and climate change.
• Problem-solving skills: Analyzing environmental challenges and developing effective solutions.
• Communication skills: Effectively conveying complex environmental information to different audiences.
• Interpersonal skills: Collaborating with diverse stakeholders.
• Leadership skills: Taking initiative and guiding environmental projects.

Tips for Building a Successful Career

• Gain practical experience: Participate in internships, volunteer work, or research projects to enhance your skills.
• Stay updated: Keep abreast of the latest environmental trends and research.
• Network with professionals: Build relationships with people in the field to explore opportunities.
• Specialize: Consider focusing on a specific area of interest, such as climate change, water management, or wildlife conservation.

Are You Looking Best Books for CUET-UG Environment Studies Check Free Sample PDF – Click Here

CUET-UG Environment Studies Job Opportunities after Under Graduation

Environment Studies offers a diverse range of career paths. Here’s a table outlining potential job roles:

Seats in Delhi University & JNU for CUET UG Environment Studies

The seat availability for Environment Studies in Delhi University (DU) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) via the CUET UG has varied in recent years.

For DU, the number of seats for Environment Studies is included in the broader category of seats available for B.Sc. programs. On average, DU offers approximately 19,916 seats for B.Sc programs annually across its various colleges​ Specific data for Environment Studies is not separately listed but can be inferred to be a part of these available seats.

In JNU, the seat distribution for Environment Studies is part of their School of Environmental Sciences or related departments. JNU’s B.Sc. program seat matrix includes various categories, but the specific seat count for Environment Studies has not been detailed separately. The total seats for other B.Sc. programs in JNU can give an idea of the scale, with some programs having around 20 seats each​ .

Frequently Asked Question CUET-UG Environmental Studies Syllabus