VOA标准英语2009年-Groups Say G8's Green Commitments Fail Afr

G-8 leaders in Italy pledged to cut global emissions² 50 percent by 2050. But advocacy organizations say that the commitment is much too weak and too vague for sub-Saharan Africa, which is already facing serious challenges due to a changing climate.
　
Group of Eight (G8) leaders pose for a family photo at the summit in L'Aquila, central Italy, 08 Jul 2009

The advocacy groups say that the 2050 deadline set by the G-8 leaders is much too far away to address the serious issues arising from changing global temperatures.

Tom Sharman, head of climate change policy at the international development organization "ActionAid," claims African nations need an immediate³ commitment from industrialized nations both to cut their emissions by 2020 and to provide emergency funds to help affected⁴ countries respond to climate-related disasters.

"What the G-8 and the major economies forum⁵ agreed [to] was only to talk about the targets for 2050, which is a long way off and probably hardly any G-8 leaders will be alive at that date," he said. "What they really needed to do was talk about the 2020 target and how much money they're going to put on the table - and they failed to do either."

One of the criticisms of the G-8 pledge is its vague wording regarding the base year for determining the agreed upon emissions cut. The statement declared the 2050 emission¹ levels were to be "compared to 1990 or later years," leaving what critics suggest is a wide open door for G-8 leaders to hedge on the actual specifics of the pledge.

George Malakwen, the assistant director at the "Eastern Africa Environmental Network," says that those regions that have had least to do with the shifting climate are now the ones suffering the most from its consequences. As an example he points out this year's severe drought in East Africa.

"Although [the] eastern Africa region has not been part of the industrialized world, and is not still, yet it is actually bearing the greatest brunt of climate change," said Malakwen. "Many people are dying because of hunger; crops are failing; livestock⁶ are dying - even the wildlife, which is actually one of the backbones⁷ of the economy in terms of tourism."

A recent report by development organization "Oxfam International" links the current hunger crisis being experienced across the region to the shifting climate trends. The report predicts that changing seasons and prolonged droughts could dramatically decrease the yield of maize⁸ crops, the staple⁹ food of a quarter billion East Africans.

Recent studies also show that changes in climate may severely¹⁰ disrupt the livelihoods¹¹ of the pastoralist herders in the region.

Sharman predicts that the people of sub-Saharan Africa will not be impressed by the pledges they have received from the G-8 leaders.

"I think if they see what the G-8 have said, they will be extremely disappointed and once again feel that the G-8 leaders are not really understanding Africa's problem, particularly in the case of climate change where Africa is one of the continents that stands to be hit first and hardest by climate change and yet has done least to contribute to the problem," he said.

According to the "International Governmental Panel on Climate Change," emissions from industrialized nations must be cut 25 to 40 percent by 2020 to avoid global climate-related disasters.

In reviewing the G-8 Summit this week, U.S. President Barack Obama said discussions on climate change had improved chances for further negotitaions later this year. He said the discussions had been "candid¹² and spirited."

1 emission   

n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发

参考例句：

• Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施，降低污染物排放总量。
• Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后，指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。

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 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

6 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

7 backbones   

n.骨干( backbone的名词复数 )；脊骨；骨气；脊骨状物

参考例句：

• Why do hummingbirds and gorillas both have backbones? 为什么蜂鸟和大猩猩都有脊骨？ 来自辞典例句
• Simply adding bandwidth to the Internet backbones is not an answer. 只是简单的在互联网骨架上增加带宽是应付不了的。 来自互联网

8 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

9 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。

10 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

11 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

12 candid   

adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的

参考例句：

• I cannot but hope the candid reader will give some allowance for it.我只有希望公正的读者多少包涵一些。
• He is quite candid with his friends.他对朋友相当坦诚。