2020年经济学人 气候变化:逃避(1)

 

Annual UN climate summits are never moments of unbridled optimism,

每年一度的联合国气候峰会从来不是盲目乐观的时刻，

but this year's, held in Madrid and dubbed¹ COP25, was particularly dispiriting. Its logo was a clock with its hands at a quarter to 12.

但今年在马德里举办的COP25联合国气候峰会尤其令人沮丧。其标志是一个指针指向十二点差一刻的钟。

Midnight duly passed on Friday December 13th—supposedly the summit's last day, and then again on Saturday.

12月13日周五，可能是峰会的最后一天，午夜准时过去了，然后周六又过去了。

Only on Sunday did delegates agree to weak and watered-down commitments to enact² previously³ promised cuts in emissions⁴ of greenhouse gases.

到了周日，代表才同意在实施之前承诺的减少温室气体排放方面做出软弱无力的妥协。

And they deferred⁵ until next year a decision on regulating a new international carbon market.

他们还将是否建立一个新的国际碳市场的决定推迟到了明年。

In 2015, in Paris, nearly 200 countries promised to stop global warming

2015年，在巴黎，200个国家承诺

before average temperatures rose by more than 1.5-2°C above pre-industrial levels.

在全球平均气温较工业化水平上升1.5-2摄氏度之前阻止全球变暖。

Most climate scientists, though, admit privately⁶ that there is little hope of this.

虽然大部分气候科学家私下里承认，这几乎没有希望。

A coalition⁷ of governments including the European Union therefore came to Madrid demanding a strongly worded final text

因此，包括欧盟在内的一个政府联盟来到马德里，要求拿出一份措辞强硬的最终文本，

that would urge all countries to promise in 2020 to cut emissions further and faster than agreed so far. That text failed to materialise.

敦促所有国家承诺在2020年进一步、更快地削减碳排放。该文本未能成为现实。

In fact, the real effort on this front came from Brussels, where the EU's leaders, after some wrangling⁸,

事实上，在这方面真正的努力来自布鲁塞尔，在那里，欧盟领导人们经过一番争论后

committed themselves on December 12th to reducing emissions to "net zero" by 2050.

于12月12日做出承诺，到2050年将排放量减少到“零排放”。

This means any release of greenhouse gases thereafter will be balanced by the capture of such gases already in the atmosphere by, say, extra afforestation.

这意味着，今后任何温室气体的排放，都将通过额外的植树造林等措施来平衡大气中已经存在的温室气体的捕获。

The European Commission's presidency⁹ has published a comprehensive and ambitious,

欧盟委员会主席已为实现这一目标的措施，

if sometimes vague, proposal for measures that would achieve this goal.

发表了一份全面而雄心勃勃的提案，虽然内容模糊。

As part of it, an EU climate law enshrining the 2050 target will be put forward in the spring of 2020.

作为措施的一部分，欧盟将在2020年春季提出一项规定2050年目标的气候法律。

Weak and watered-down commitments to enact cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases are nothing new.

制定削减温室气体排放的承诺力度不够并不是什么新鲜事。

What COP25 is really likely to be remembered for, though, is a failure to deal with carbon markets.

COP25真正让人铭记的可能是应对碳市场方面的失败。

Plans for such markets go back to a scheme created by the Kyoto protocol¹⁰, a treaty signed in 1992.

这类市场的计划可以追溯到1992年签署的《京都议定书》。

An arcane¹¹ technical clause in the Paris agreement then offered a framework for linking existing national or regional markets

《巴黎协定》中的一项晦涩难懂的技术条款为连接现有国家或地区市场提供了框架

and thus creating a new global one that would be administered by the UN and offer access to countries that do not have their own.

并因此建立一个新的全球市场，由联合国管理，并向没有自己市场的国家提供准入。

1 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。

3 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

4 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。

5 deferred   

adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• The department deferred the decision for six months. 这个部门推迟了六个月才作决定。
• a tax-deferred savings plan 延税储蓄计划

6 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

7 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

8 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

9 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

10 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。

11 arcane   

adj.神秘的，秘密的

参考例句：

• The technique at one time was arcane in the minds of most chemists.这种技术在大多数化学家心目中一度是神秘的。
• Until a few months ago few people outside the arcane world of contemporary music had heard of Gorecki.直至几个月前，在现代音乐神秘殿堂之外很少有人听说了戈莱斯基。