Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2020 / ii / Paper 4 / 25I / b / Solution

Since $K\ge 0$, Gauss-Bonnet gives $4\pi (1-g)\ge 0$, hence $g\le 1$. If $g=1$, the integral of the continuous nonnegative function $K$ is zero, so $K$ vanishes everywhere.

That is impossible for a compact regular surface in ${\mathbb{R}}^3$. Choose $p\in S$ maximizing the Euclidean distance from the origin, after translating the origin off the surface if necessary. The sphere centered at the origin through $p$ is a supporting sphere. The supporting-sphere curvature bound shows that both principal curvatures at $p$ have the same sign and nonzero magnitude, so $K(p)>0$. Therefore $g\ne 1$, and $g=0$. The classification theorem for surfaces now shows that $S$ is diffeomorphic to the sphere.