VOA常速英语2007年-Environmentalists Meeting in Spain to Draft Key

By Lisa Bryant
Paris
12 November 2007

The international climate change panel that won this year's Nobel peace prize is holding a meeting in the Spanish city of Valencia this week to draft a key report on global warming. Environmentalists hope the document will increase pressure on countries like the United States and China to agree to binding¹ cuts on greenhouse gas emissions². Lisa Bryant has more from Paris.

Experts from roughly 140 countries are in Valencia this week to synthesize previous global warming studies they produced earlier this year into a report that will be published Friday. They are part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, an international body of experts that won this year's Nobel peace prize for its work on global warming.

The gathering³ comes ahead of key climate change talks due in December, in Bali, Indonesia. Governments are expected to consider drafting a successor to the 1990 Kyoto Protocol⁴ on cutting earth-warming greenhouse gas emissions. The protocol expires in 2012.

But even as environmentalists praise the IPCC, some like World Wildlife Fund energy expert Stephan Singer believe the panel is already out of date.

"We have seen post-IPCC science coming out the last couple of months which tells us the cautious and conservative consensus⁵ body of the IPCC is already past history, unfortunately," Singer said. "We have seen record melting in the Arctic, 10 times as strong as observed this year as the average of 10 to 15 years. We have seen to the surprise of many that the ocean probably is much more saturated⁶ with carbon dioxide than we thought before."

Singer notes the IPCC's findings still carry immense political weight. He hopes governments will bear them in mind when they head to Bali next month.

"What World Wildlife Fund hopes will end up in the process following Bali is for long-term emissions reductions of industrialized countries of something like 30 percent, by 2020," he said. "And of course, taking into account over time the large and growing emissions by emerging economies."

Environmentalists particularly hope richer nations like the United States, which did not ratify⁷ the Kyoto Protocol, will take the lead in mandatory⁸ emissions cuts -- and set an example for growing and polluting economies like China and India to follow.

1 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。

2 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。

3 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

4 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。

5 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

6 saturated   

a.饱和的，充满的

参考例句：

• The continuous rain had saturated the soil. 连绵不断的雨把土地淋了个透。
• a saturated solution of sodium chloride 氯化钠饱和溶液

7 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。

8 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。