VOA常速英语2008年-UN's Climate Chief Wants India to Clarify Polic

By Steve Herman
New Delhi
06 February 2008

The United Nations' point man on climate change policy is in New Delhi where he is hoping to get India to clarify what it will do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions¹. Steve Herman reports from New Delhi.

The executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change says he wants some answers from India's government while he is in the capital for an international meeting on the subject.

Speaking to reporters here Wednesday, Yvo de Boer expressed frustration² with New Delhi's lack of commitment in cutting greenhouse gas emissions. He says he is well aware of the Indian government's insistence³ that providing electricity for its growing economy means it cannot bow to demands it significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

"It's a position that explains what India doesn't want and what I'm above all interested in is what India does want," he said. "Because then you know what you have to work towards. And there I think both the discussions with Indian officials and the meeting over the rest of the week can be very useful."

India is the world's fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Both India and China have bristled⁴ at demands from the developed world they accept binding⁵ reductions in a proposed treaty to start in 2012.

New Delhi and Beijing argue it is unfair that the countries responsible for putting nearly all the extra carbon dioxide into the atmosphere since the dawn of the Industrial Age try to shift the burden onto those economies still trying to catch up with the West.

The U.N.'s climate change experts partly sided with the developing world's assertion that the United States and many other major developed nations are also not doing enough to cut harmful emissions. But de Boer notes there has been an indication of a turnaround in Washington lately.

"I do have the sense that the Bush Administration is increasingly engaging on this issue," added Yvo de Boer. "We saw that through the State of the Union address. The U.S. recently launched a new technology facility for international cooperation on technology, so I do see action going in the right direction."

De Boer will be among those attending the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit, which begins Thursday. Others at the meeting are to include four Scandinavian heads of government. It is the first big international gathering⁶ on climate change since the Bali conference, which discussed a successor to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol⁷. At the Bali summit nearly 190 countries agreed to work on a new blueprint⁸.

Most industrialized nations are not expected to meet the pledge made in Kyoto to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by five percent in 2012 compared to 1990 levels. That has put more pressure on India and China to make binding commitments in a new treaty which supporters hope will be signed by the end of next year.

1 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。

2 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

3 insistence   

n.坚持；强调；坚决主张

参考例句：

• They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
• His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。

4 bristled   

adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• They bristled at his denigrating description of their activities. 听到他在污蔑他们的活动，他们都怒发冲冠。
• All of us bristled at the lawyer's speech insulting our forefathers. 听到那个律师在讲演中污蔑我们的祖先，大家都气得怒发冲冠。

5 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。

6 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。

7 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。

8 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。