VOA标准英语2009年-European Leaders Home in on Global War

The European Commission has called on the bloc¹ to collectively earmark about $3 billion yearly in assistance for developing countries to cope with climate change.

Lisa Bryant | Paris 10 December 2009
 

A creation by French artist Francois Barge² 'Message de glace' (Ice Message), made of three 400 kg ice cubes, to denounce global warming on the eve of the December 7-18 UN climate conference in Copenhagen, 06 Dec 2009

 

As international negotiators continue climate change talks in Copenhagen, they are watching another European capital, Brussels, where European leaders are meeting Thursday and Friday to firm up their global warming policy.

The year-end summit of European Union leaders is expected to tackle a number of issues, including international banking³ supervision⁴ and Afghanistan. But climate change is expected to top the agenda.

European heads of state are expected to agree on a dollar amount for short-term aid for developing countries to cope with climate change. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, has called on the bloc to collectively earmark about $3 billion yearly in assistance, between 2010 and 2012. So far, Britain and Sweden have announced short-term pledges, which are voluntary. Most members have not.

Jason Anderson, head of EU climate and energy policy at the environment group WWF, says it is important the pledges amount to new money - rather than simply reshuffling existing aid. And, he says, Europe must agree on long-term aid to poor nations.

"In terms of the long term, I think they need to acknowledge the scale and be willing to put in a more specific offer for Europe's fair share of that scale, recognizing there is negotiation⁵ here, so it doesn't have to be a final fixed⁶ figure on the table, but it has to be consistent with the overall scale," he said.

So far, EU leaders have agreed only that a general, global figure of $150 billion in aid is needed, but they have not specified⁷ their own share of that sum.

Environmental groups are also backing Britain's call for the EU to cut carbon emissions⁸ by 30 percent by 2020, instead of their agreed 20 percent.

"There have been a number of studies showing that Europe moving to 30 percent would actually be an economic gain for Europe. And that includes if other countries don't take a gain at the same level, although they have to join later," said Jason Anderson. "The reason for that is that every time you cut, you're putting into place policies that use less energy, energy costs money and, in fact, you're saving money."

But business leaders, along with EU members like Poland and Italy, strongly oppose deeper cuts, arguing they will hurt European economies that are slowly emerging from the financial crisis.

 

1 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

2 barge   

n.平底载货船，驳船

参考例句：

• The barge was loaded up with coal.那艘驳船装上了煤。
• Carrying goods by train costs nearly three times more than carrying them by barge.通过铁路运货的成本比驳船运货成本高出近3倍。

3 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

4 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

5 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

6 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

7 specified   

adj.特定的

参考例句：

• The architect specified oak for the wood trim. 那位建筑师指定用橡木做木饰条。
• It is generated by some specified means. 这是由某些未加说明的方法产生的。

8 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。