VOA标准英语2010年-Non-binding Copenhagen Agreement Facin

Negotiators at the climate summit in Copenhagen last month failed to agree on a new climate change treaty to replace the current Kyoto Protocol¹ before it expires in 2012.  Jonathan Lash² is president of World Resources Institute, an environmental policy group based in Washington. He was in Copenhagen for the climate summit and says he has been astonished by split reactions in the weeks after the meeting. "If you track the flow of blogs and columns that are coming across on this, the assessment³ ranges from catastrophe⁴ to success."

Copenhagen summit, failure and success

Jonathan Pershing, U.S. deputy special envoy⁵ for climate, speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington said the agreement in Copenhagen will help shape global climate policy

Forty-five thousand people attended the Copenhagen summit, including 100 heads of state and senior government officials. Jonathan Pershing, deputy special envoy for climate for the Obama administration, says the attendance was unprecedented⁶ and underscored the importance of climate change on a broad range of issues. "It speaks to trade. It speaks to energy policy. It speaks to diplomatic interests and initiatives that countries are undertaking⁷. It speaks to development and development agendas of the poorest and the wealthiest." 

In effect, Lash, who worked in Copenhagen as an observer and policy advisor⁸, considers the summit two parallel meetings. He says it was a meeting where treaty negotiators failed to move the process forward and also a meeting that launched a non-binding political agreement forged by President Obama and leaders from China, India, Brazil and South Africa in its final hours. "This is the new world order. These were the leaders who were able finally to break through the disagreement.  And they represent all of the major developing countries over whose emissions¹⁰ a lot of the tension had arisen," Lash says.

Uncertain outcome for promises made in Copenhagen accord

The United States signed, but never ratified¹¹ the Kyoto Protocol. The Bush administration said the treaty was "flawed" because it would hurt the U.S. economy and did not require developing countries, including China and India, to reduce emissions. 

The Copenhagen Accord is a 12 paragraph document that sets a 2 degree Celsius¹² limit on future warming. Its provisions address emissions cuts, verification and deforestation.  It would also commit 100 billion dollars from wealthy countries and global institutions over the next 10 years to help poor countries adapt to climate change. Pershing says robust¹³ developing countries won't get those funds. "But we want to know what they are doing because what they are doing will affect our reaction," he says.

At a press briefing, World Resources Institute Jonathan Lash said that the Copenhagen Accord represents a new framework for future climate discussions

While 30 heads of state signed the Copenhagen Accord, Lash says the agreement leaves many uncertainties¹⁴ in its wake. "We don't even know if everybody will stick to it.  But there should be some indication by January 31st when countries who signed the accord are expected to submit their pledges for emission⁹ reductions.  "If those commitments flow in, it's a very strong indicator¹⁵ that this agreement is real, that the heads of state meant what they said, they're willing to continue to implementation¹⁶. If they don't, it will be a signal that it's beginning to disintegrate," Lash says.

At the Copenhagen summit, President Obama promised a 17 percent reduction in U.S. emissions by 2020, assuming congressional approval of pending¹⁷ climate change legislation.  The law under consideration would put a price on carbon by capping emissions and allowing polluters to trade carbon permits. Pershing says the Copenhagen Accord, while not a perfect deal is helping¹⁸ to shape U.S. climate policy. "The objective we had was to create space for the [U.S.] Senate to feel that this was not inappropriate for the United States because we were not isolating¹⁹ ourselves.  We were not moving forward without others.  We, in fact, took the world with us. We now can demonstrate also that this is in our collective interest and we are going to play our role and our part," Pershing says.

But with Congress focused on the troubled U.S. economy and a partisan²⁰ debate over health care, some experts fear the climate change legislation has lost its momentum²¹. Even so, Pershing expects Congress to pass a climate change bill before the end of 2010. Failure to address the issue, he says, is not "a plausible²² scenario²³."

1 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。

2 lash   

v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛

参考例句：

• He received a lash of her hand on his cheek.他突然被她打了一记耳光。
• With a lash of its tail the tiger leaped at her.老虎把尾巴一甩朝她扑过来。

3 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

4 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

5 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

6 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

7 undertaking   

n.保证，许诺，事业

参考例句：

• He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
• He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小，不敢从事任何事业。

8 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

9 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。

10 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。

11 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

12 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

13 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

14 uncertainties   

无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 )； 不确定； 变化不定； 无把握、不确定的事物

参考例句：

• One of the uncertainties of military duty is that you never know when you might suddenly get posted away. 任军职不稳定的因素之一是你永远不知道什么时候会突然被派往它处。
• Uncertainties affecting peace and development are on the rise. 影响和平与发展的不确定因素在增加。 来自汉英非文学 - 十六大报告

15 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

16 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

17 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

18 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

19 isolating   

adj.孤立的，绝缘的v.使隔离( isolate的现在分词 )；将…剔出（以便看清和单独处理）；使（某物质、细胞等）分离；使离析

参考例句：

• Colour filters are not very effective in isolating narrow spectral bands. 一些滤色片不能很有效地分离狭窄的光谱带。 来自辞典例句
• This became known as the streak method for isolating bacteria. 这个方法以后就称为分离细菌的划线法。 来自辞典例句

20 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

21 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

22 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。

23 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。