2019年经济学人 气候问题(4)

气候问题(4)

It is foolish to think all this can be done in ten years or so, as demanded by many activists¹ and some American presidential hopefuls. But today’s efforts, which are too lax to keep the world from two or even three degrees of warming, can be vastly improved. Forcing firms to reveal their climate vulnerabilities will help increasingly worried investors² allocate³ capital appropriately. A robust⁴ price on carbon could stimulate⁵ new forms of emission-cutting innovations that planners cannot yet imagine. Powerful as that tool is, though, the decarbonisation it brings will need to be accelerated through well-targeted regulations. Electorates⁶ should vote for both.

认为这一切都能在10年左右的时间内完成，就像许多活动人士和一些美国总统候选人所要求的那样，是愚蠢的。但是，今天的努力，由于太过松懈而无法使全球气温上升2度甚至3度，可以得到极大的改善。迫使企业披露其气候脆弱性，将有助于日益担忧的投资者合理配置资本。一个强有力的碳价格可以刺激新形式的减排创新，这是规划者们还无法想象的。尽管这个工具很强大，但它带来的脱碳需要通过目标明确的监管来加速。选民应该为两者投票。

The problem with such policies is that the climate responds to the overall level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, not to a single country’s contribution to it. If one government drastically reduces its own emissions⁷ but others do not, the gallant⁸ reducer will in general see no reduced harm. This is not always entirely⁹ true: Germany’s over-generous renewable-energy subsidies¹⁰ spurred a worldwide boom in solar-panel production that made them cheaper for everyone, thus reducing emissions abroad; Britain’s thriving offshore¹¹ wind farms may achieve something similar. But it is true enough in most cases to be a huge obstacle.

这些政策的问题在于，气候是对大气中二氧化碳的总体水平作出反应，而不是对一个国家的贡献作出反应。如果一个政府大幅减少自己的排放量，而其他政府不这么做，那么这个勇敢的减排者将不会看到任何减少的危害。这并不总是完全正确的:德国过于慷慨的可再生能源补贴刺激了世界范围内太阳能电池板生产的繁荣，这让太阳能电池板对每个国家来说都很便宜，从而减少了国外的排放；英国蓬勃发展的海上风力发电场可能也会达到类似的效果。但在大多数情况下，这足以成为一个巨大的障碍。

The obvious fix will be unpalatable to many. The UN’s climate talks treat 193 countries as equals, providing a forum¹² in which all are heard. But three-quarters of emissions come from just 12 economies. In some of those, including the United States, it is possible to imagine younger voters in liberal democracies demanding a political realignment on climate issues—and a new interest in getting others to join in. For a club composed of a dozen great and middling-but-mucky powers to thrash out a “minilateral” deal would leave billions excluded from questions that could shape their destiny; the participants would need new systems of trade preference and other threats and bribes¹³ to keep each other in line. But they might break the impasse¹⁴, pushing enough of the world onto a steeper mitigation trajectory¹⁵ to benefit all—and be widely emulated¹⁶.

显而易见的解决方案将让许多人感到不快。联合国气候谈判平等对待193个国家，提供了一个所有国家都能发声的论坛。但四分之三的排放量仅来自12个经济体。在其中一些国家，包括美国，可以想象自由民主国家的年轻选民要求在气候问题上进行政治重组，并希望其他人也加入进来。对于一个由十几个伟大的、中等但不太体面的大国组成的俱乐部来说，敲定一项“小范围”协议将使数十亿人被排除在可能决定他们命运的问题之外；参与者将需要新的贸易优惠制度、其他威胁和贿赂，以保持彼此一致。但他们可能会打破僵局，将世界上足够多的国家推向一个更陡峭的减排轨道，使所有国家受益——并被广泛效仿。

The damage that climate change will end up doing depends on the human response over the next few decades. Many activists on the left cannot imagine today’s liberal democracies responding to the challenge on an adequate scale. They call for new limits to the pursuit of individual prosperity and sweeping¹⁷ government control over investment—strictures some of them would welcome under any circumstances. Meanwhile, on the right, some look away from the incipient¹⁸ disaster in an I’m-alright-Jack way and so ignore their duties to the bulk of humanity.

气候变化最终造成的破坏将取决于未来几十年人类的反应。许多左翼活动人士无法想象，今天的自由民主国家会以适当的规模应对这一挑战。他们呼吁对追求个人繁荣进行新的限制，并要求政府对投资限制进行全面控制。与此同时，在右翼，一些人以一种“我还好吧”的方式把目光从刚刚开始的灾难上移开，因此忽视了他们对人类的责任。

If the spirit of enterprise that first tapped the power of fossil fuels in the Industrial Revolution is to survive, the states in which it has most prospered¹⁹ must prove those attitudes wrong. They must be willing to transform the machinery²⁰ of the world economy without giving up on the values out of which that economy was born. Some claim that capitalism²¹’s love of growth inevitably²² pits it against a stable climate. This newspaper believes them wrong. But climate change could nonetheless be the death knell²³ for economic freedom, along with much else. If capitalism is to hold its place, it must up its game.

如果在工业革命中率先利用化石燃料的企业精神要生存下去，那么，在化石燃料最繁荣的国家，必须证明这些态度是错误的。他们必须愿意改革世界经济的机制，而不放弃产生这种经济的价值观念。一些人声称，资本主义对增长的热爱不可避免地使其与稳定的气候相矛盾。本刊认为他们是错的。然而，气候变化可能是经济自由的丧钟，还有许多其他因素。如果资本主义想要站稳脚跟，就必须坚持下去。

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 allocate   

vt.分配，分派；把…拨给；把…划归

参考例句：

• You must allocate the money carefully.你们必须谨慎地分配钱。
• They will allocate fund for housing.他们将拨出经费建房。

4 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。

5 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

6 electorates   

全体选民( electorate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The assembly's 15 seats have electorates as small as 190. 大会的15个议席只有很少的190选民参加。
• Restricting hedge funds is something they can sell to their electorates. 限制对冲基金是他们能够向选民兜售的东西。

7 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。

8 gallant   

adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的

参考例句：

• Huang Jiguang's gallant deed is known by all men. 黄继光的英勇事迹尽人皆知。
• These gallant soldiers will protect our country.这些勇敢的士兵会保卫我们的国家的。

9 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

10 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

12 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。

13 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

14 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

15 trajectory   

n.弹道，轨道

参考例句：

• It is not difficult to sketch the subsequent trajectory.很容易描绘出它们最终的轨迹。
• The path followed by a projectile is called its trajectory.抛物体所循的路径称为它的轨道。

16 emulated   

v.与…竞争( emulate的过去式和过去分词 )；努力赶上；计算机程序等仿真；模仿

参考例句：

• The havoc that months had previously wrought was now emulated by the inroads of hours. 前几个月已经使他垮下来，如今更是一小时一小时地在恶化。 来自辞典例句
• The key technology emulated by CAD and the circuit is showed. 对关键技术进行了仿真，给出了电路实现形式。 来自互联网

17 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

18 incipient   

adj.起初的，发端的，初期的

参考例句：

• The anxiety has been sharpened by the incipient mining boom.采矿业初期的蓬勃发展加剧了这种担忧。
• What we see then is an incipient global inflation.因此，我们看到的是初期阶段的全球通胀.

19 prospered   

成功，兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The organization certainly prospered under his stewardship. 不可否认，这个组织在他的管理下兴旺了起来。
• Mr. Black prospered from his wise investments. 布莱克先生由于巧妙的投资赚了不少钱。

20 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

21 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

22 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

23 knell   

n.丧钟声；v.敲丧钟

参考例句：

• That is the death knell of the British Empire.这是不列颠帝国的丧钟。
• At first he thought it was a death knell.起初，他以为是死亡的丧钟敲响了。