经济学人273:联合国气候变化会谈 Climate-change talks

 　　Climate-change talks

　　气候变化会谈

　　Wilted¹ greenery

　　凋零的青葱

　　The UN’s latest round of climate-change talks open in Durban. Even avoiding deadlock² would be an achievement

　　联合国最新一轮气候变化会谈在德班开幕，这次会谈只要不走进死胡同就算不错了

　　THOUSANDS of anxious environmentalists, hard-eyed negotiators and bemused journalists gathered in Durban this week for the UN’s annual climate-change circus. Saving the planet, the main item on its agenda two years ago, in Copenhagen, was not uppermost in their minds. Saving the circus was: the failure in Copenhagen to forge a binding⁴ agreement to mitigate⁵ the world’s carbon emissions⁶ could yet lead to a breakdown⁷ of the whole UN process in Durban.

　　本周无数焦虑的环保人士、针锋相对的谈判代表和迷茫的记者在德班聚集，参加联合国一年一度热闹的气候变化会谈。对于他们来说，最重要的不是两年前在哥本哈根议事日程上的主要议题——拯救我们的地球，而是拯救这一次的会谈。因为哥本哈根会谈没能打造出有约束力的协议来减少世界二氧化碳排放量，这有可能导致本次联合国在德班的整个会议进程土崩瓦解。

　　To avoid that, negotiators have until December 9th to reach three goals. Least dauntingly⁸, they must nail down the details of initiatives agreed on in Cancún last year, chiefly the Green Climate Fund. This aims to help poor countries curb⁹ their emissions and adapt to global warming. It is supposed to be stocked with some of the $100 billion that rich countries have promised poor ones by 2020.

　　为了避免这种情况，截至到12月9日谈判代表必须要达到三个目标。还不那么让人失望的是，他们必须确定去年坎昆通过的新方案的细节，其中最主要的绿色气候基金。这项基金的目的在于帮助经济落后的国家控制二氧化碳排放量以及适应全球变暖。按照富裕国家对贫穷国家的承诺，到2020年，这项基金应该能达到1000亿之多。

　　Little actual cash will be proffered¹⁰ in Durban: progress will be limited to working out the details of the fund’s design, including the relative powers of donors¹¹ and recipients¹², and to its possible role in wooing investment. Even this is contentious¹³, as America wants a bigger role for the private sector¹⁴. But such spats¹⁵ should prove surmountable¹⁶. Alongside progress on another promised institution, to spread green technology to poor countries, the fund is Durban’s likeliest success.

　　德班会谈会提供更少的现金，此次取得的进步仅限于制定出这笔资金计划用途的细节，包括捐赠国和受赠国的相对实力对比，以及它在吸引投资中可能起到的作用。美国想在“私有部门”中起到更大的作用，尽管这使这笔款项还存在争议，但是这样的小吵小闹还是可以平息的。加上另外一个前途光明的机构所取得的进步，他们会一起把绿色技术延伸到经济落后国家。这项资金的建立是德班会谈最有可能取得的成功。

　　Much trickier¹⁷ will be reconciling the demands of developing countries for an extension of the UN’s Kyoto protocol¹⁸ with the determination of most developed ones to bin³ it. The world’s only binding agreement to curb emissions has been a colossal¹⁹ failure. Since it was negotiated in 1997 global emissions have risen by over a quarter, mostly in developing countries. The treaty does not curb their emissions, which are now 58% of the total; China alone is responsible for 23%. The second-biggest polluter, America, (with 20%) is also free to emit, as it has not ratified²⁰ the treaty.

　　协调发展中国家的要求，使它们同意大多数发达国家都会拒绝的《京都议定书》的附加条件会变得更加困难。世界上仅有的对控制排放量有约束力的协议经历了重大的失败，因为它是在1997年协商出来的，这个时候（二氧化碳）全球排放量增长已超过四分之一，而且主要集中在发展中国家。这个协议并没有限制它们的排放量，如今其排放总量占世界总量的58％，中国自己就占23％，紧随其后的第二大污染源是美国（排放量占20％）。由于美国并未签署协议，因此它的二氧化碳排放是免费的。

　　Developed countries that did ratify²¹ Kyoto feel cheated. Japan and Russia have rejected a second round of emission-cutting under its aegis²², after their current commitments expire at the end of 2012. Canada, which will hugely overshoot its Kyoto target, is reported to be considering quitting the treaty altogether. “Kyoto is the past,” said its environment minister, Peter Kent, before setting out for Durban.

　　签署《京都议定书》的发达国家觉得吃亏了。日本和俄罗斯拒绝到2012年底他们的现行义务到期后在“减排”的赞助下进行第二轮减排。据报道即将大幅超过京都排放量限定目标的加拿大“将考虑彻底放弃这一协定”。加拿大环境保护部官员皮特?肯特在去德班之前就说“《京都议定书》已经是过去时了”。

1 wilted   

（使）凋谢，枯萎( wilt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The flowers wilted in the hot sun. 花在烈日下枯萎了。
• The romance blossomed for six or seven months, and then wilted. 那罗曼史持续六七个月之后就告吹了。

2 deadlock   

n.僵局，僵持

参考例句：

• The negotiations reached a deadlock after two hours.两小时后，谈判陷入了僵局。
• The employers and strikers are at a deadlock over the wage.雇主和罢工者在工资问题上相持不下。

3 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

4 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

5 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

6 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

7 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

8 dauntingly   

参考例句：

• She is dauntingly articulate. 她的能言善辩令人敬畏。 来自柯林斯例句

9 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

10 proffered   

v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She proffered her cheek to kiss. 她伸过自己的面颊让人亲吻。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He rose and proffered a silver box full of cigarettes. 他站起身，伸手递过一个装满香烟的银盒子。 来自辞典例句

11 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

13 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

14 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

15 spats   

n.口角( spat的名词复数 )；小争吵；鞋罩；鞋套v.spit的过去式和过去分词( spat的第三人称单数 )；口角；小争吵；鞋罩

参考例句：

• Gasoline is a solvent liquid that removes grease spats. 汽油是一种能脱去油迹的有溶解能力的液体。 来自辞典例句
• Then spats took a catnap, and the bird looked out for dogs. 然后斯派茨小睡了一会儿。小鸟为它站岗放哨，防止狗跑过来。 来自互联网

16 surmountable   

可战胜的，可克服的

参考例句：

• She guessed Bertha's present difficulty, and It'seemed easily surmountable. 她猜出了伯莎目前的为难之处；而这看来很容易克服。
• Those barriers that do exist are mostly surmountable. 确实存在的障碍大多是可以克服的。

17 trickier   

adj.狡猾的( tricky的比较级 )；（形势、工作等）复杂的；机警的；微妙的

参考例句：

• This is the general rule, but some cases are trickier than others. 以上是一般规则，但某些案例会比别的案例更为棘手。 来自互联网
• The lower the numbers go, the trickier the problems get. 武器的数量越低，问题就越复杂。 来自互联网

18 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

19 colossal   

adj.异常的，庞大的

参考例句：

• There has been a colossal waste of public money.一直存在巨大的公款浪费。
• Some of the tall buildings in that city are colossal.那座城市里的一些高层建筑很庞大。

20 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

21 ratify   

v.批准，认可，追认

参考例句：

• The heads of two governments met to ratify the peace treaty.两国政府首脑会晤批准和平条约。
• The agreement have to be ratify by the board.该协议必须由董事会批准。

22 aegis   

n.盾；保护，庇护

参考例句：

• Medical supplies are flied in under the aegis of the red cross.在红十字会的保护下，正在空运进医药用品。
• The space programme will continue under the aegis of the armed forces.这项太空计划将以武装部队作后盾继续进行。