VOA标准英语2009年-Maldives Asks Most Vulnerable Countries to

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
09 November 2009

 
President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed (file photo)
The Maldivian President is asking nations most vulnerable to climate change to take the lead in reducing global warming.The leader of a country threatened by rising sea levels slammed rich countries at a two-day conference for doing too little to prevent climate change. 

Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed says countries like his that are most at risk from global warming are looking not for what he called a "global suicide pact¹," but rather a "global survival pact."

Maldives is hosting a two-day conference of 11 nations which are most at risk from global warming. 

Opening the conference, the Maldivian leader said Monday that the issue of climate change should not be considered equal to other international issues.

"It is easy to assume that it can be solved by a messy political compromise between powerful states," said Mohamed Nasheed. "But the fact of the matter is, we cannot negotiate with the laws of physics. We cannot cut a deal with mother nature."

President Nasheed says although wealthy nations have pledged to take steps to halt global warming, they have not committed to carbon reduction targets that will make this possible. 

The Maldivian leader wants countries like his to embrace green technology, switch to clean energy, and show the way to those who are opposed to change. He says if those with the least pollution start doing the most, rich nations will not have an excuse for inaction. 

"In my mind a block of carbon neutral, developing nations could change the outcome of Copenhagen," he said. "At the moment every country arrives at the negotiations² seeking to keep their own emissions³ as high as possible and never to make commitments unless someone else does first. This is the logic⁴ of a mad house, a recipe for collective suicide."

Earlier this year, Maldives pledged to become the world's first carbon neutral nation. It has begun construction of a wind farm to supply nearly half its electricity. 

Many of the islands that make up the Maldives rise little more than one meter above sea level, and could disappear under the sea if global temperatures continue to rise. Last month, the Maldives Cabinet held an underwater meeting to draw attention to its plight⁵.

The other countries represented at the conference include African nations such as Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania, which face the threat of desertification. Mountainous countries like Nepal and Bhutan, which are at risk from melting glaciers⁶, and low lying nations like Bangladesh were also represented.

1 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

2 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

3 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。

4 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

5 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

6 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）