GATE — Environmental Science and Engineering (ES) · India · IITs and IISc on rotation (2026: IIT Guwahati)
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersRunning environmental performance inside an organisation: ISO 14001 and the ISO 14000 family, environmental aspects and impacts, auditing, eco-labels and the voluntary sustainability standards that farms and agri-food firms are certified against.
In the exams: GATE ES Section 9 (EMS, ISO 14000, auditing); ICAR AICE subject 71 Unit 3 (environmental auditing); NEBOSH EMC; ISO 14001 lead auditor
GATE — Environmental Science and Engineering (ES), Section 9
ISO 14000 family numbers, ISO 14001 structure and PDCA, aspects versus impacts, environmental auditing types, eco-labels and EMS benefits; short numericals on intensity indicators and percentage change.
How our questions for GATE spread across the units of Environmental Management Systems, Auditing & Standards. Difficulty: 17 easy, 7 medium, 1 hard.
| Environmental performance indicators | 5 | |
| The ISO 14000 family | 4 | |
| Eco-labelling: types I, II and III | 4 | |
| ISO 14001: context, policy, planning, operation, evaluation, improvement | 3 | |
| Environmental aspects and impacts register | 3 | |
| Environmental auditing: types, process and auditor competence | 3 | |
| Integrating environment with quality and safety management | 2 | |
| Legal compliance and evaluation | 1 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
In which year was ISO 14001 first published?
C. 1996
ISO 14001 was first published in 1996 and revised in 2004 and 2015. 1987 is the year ISO 9000 appeared; 1992 saw BS 7750 and the Rio summit; 2004 is the first revision.
Further reading: ISO 14001:2015
Which national standard is regarded as the first environmental management system standard, a precursor of ISO 14001?
B. BS 7750 (United Kingdom, 1992)
BS 7750, published by the British Standards Institution in 1992, was the first EMS standard and influenced both EMAS and ISO 14001. The other codes are unrelated standards.
Further reading: Sheldon and Yoxon, EMS
Mapped onto plan–do–check–act, which ISO 14001 clauses correspond mainly to 'do'?
A. Clauses 7 and 8
Support (7) and operation (8) are the 'do' stage; context, leadership and planning (4–6) are 'plan'; performance evaluation (9) is 'check'; improvement (10) is 'act'.
Further reading: ISO 14001:2015
On a livestock farm, which is an aspect associated with the impact 'acidification and nitrogen deposition on nearby habitats'?
B. Ammonia emissions from housing and manure storage
Ammonia volatilised from housing and manure deposits nitrogen and acidifies soils and habitats. Noise, lighting energy and paper are aspects with other impacts.
Further reading: Livestock environment texts
Water intensity falls from 4.0 to 3.4 m³ per tonne. What is the percentage improvement?
D. 15 %
Improvement = (4.0 − 3.4)/4.0 = 15 %. 0.6 is the absolute change; 18 % divides by the new value (0.6/3.4); 85 % is the new value as a share of the old.
A plant processing 13000 t at 4.0 m³/t cuts intensity to 3.4 m³/t while throughput rises 20 %. What happens to absolute water use?
C. It rises from 52000 to 53040 m³
New use = 3.4 × (13000 × 1.2) = 3.4 × 15600 = 53040 m³, above 52000: intensity improved 15 % but absolute use rose. 44200 ignores the throughput rise; 52000 assumes no change; 41600 wrongly subtracts the 20 % throughput change instead of adding it.
Which standard governs Type I environmental labelling programmes?
D. ISO 14024
ISO 14024 covers Type I (third-party, multi-criteria) programmes; ISO 14021 self-declared Type II claims; ISO 14025 Type III declarations (EPDs); ISO 14031 performance evaluation.
Further reading: ISO 14024
A manufacturer prints 'contains 40 % recycled plastic' on its packaging without external certification. Under ISO terms this is:
A. A Type II self-declared environmental claim
Self-declared claims made without third-party certification are Type II (ISO 14021) and must be specific, accurate and verifiable. Type I labels need third-party certification; Type III are quantified LCA-based declarations; EMAS statements report organisational performance.
Further reading: ISO 14021
How many principles does the Codex HACCP system have?
C. Seven
HACCP has seven principles: hazard analysis, critical control points, critical limits, monitoring, corrective actions, verification, and documentation and records. Twelve is the number of HACCP application steps.
Further reading: Codex CXC 1-1969
Ten here, 25 in the app. The Laisha app has every practice question we have written to GATE in this subject, marked as you go, with timed papers, a jump-to-unanswered list and a certificate when you pass at 70 per cent.
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