美国国家公共电台 NPR--Climate summit aims to convince nations to dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions

Climate summit aims to convince nations to dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions¹

Transcript²

NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Rachel Cleetus of the Union of Concerned Scientists, who's attending the U.N. climate summit in Egypt, about the state of the climate, and what needs to be achieved.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We're going to go to Egypt now, where the COP27 climate summit is taking place, and join Rachel Cleetus. She's a policy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Rachel, thank you so much for being with us.

RACHEL CLEETUS: Thank you for having me.

MARTIN: She joins us from Sharm el-Sheikh. So the U.N. secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, said today - and I'm going to quote here - "we are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator." It is hard to define the urgency any more clearly than that. But are we at a point where the language around the dangers of climate change has just exceeded its power to change anything?

CLEETUS: Yeah. You know, as world leaders are gathering³ here in Sharm el-Sheikh, it couldn't be clearer that around the world, we're seeing devastating⁴, costly⁵ climate impacts. So this crisis, it's here and now. Wherever you live, you're seeing it. Here in the United States, we've got the Mississippi River at record lows. We've seen hurricanes, heatwaves, wildfires. And of course, right here where we are in COP, we're not so far away from the Horn of Africa, where millions of people are facing the prospect⁶ of famine after a prolonged drought. So yes, there is no hyperbole here. We have been propelled into an era of a climate crisis and loss and damage that's affecting people and ecosystems⁷ everywhere.

MARTIN: Then why can't nation-states make the cuts to greenhouse gas emissions that are required in this moment?

CLEETUS: Yeah. So this is a human-caused, fossil fuel-driven crisis. And the people who are letting us down are policymakers and the fossil fuel industry that has a stranglehold over the politics and the policymaking process. They are here in full force at this COP, too, trying to affect the outcome here. So these are all human-caused obstacles. And they can be met. They can be defeated. They can be taken down. We have to put pressure on our policymakers to do better and do more.

MARTIN: So what are the leverages⁹ - what are the points of leverage⁸ for change? Because as I understand it, they're going to come up with new goals at this summit. But what are - how do you get nations to carry those promises out when they haven't fulfilled previous commitments?

CLEETUS: This is in all our collective self-interest. And the three top issues here at COP are the fact that the global emissions trajectory¹⁰ is far off track from where it needs to be. We are headed for well north of two degrees Celsius¹¹, as much as 2.8 degrees Celsius increase in temperature. And that would really trigger some catastrophic climate tipping points - multi-century sea level rise, feedback loops like the release of methane¹² as permafrost melts. We cannot take those kind of risks. So it's in our collective self-interest to do the right thing here. The other piece is making sure there's enough climate finance on the table so that low-income countries can also make this jump to clean energy and adapt to climate change.

And finally, the burning issue of loss and damage - those climate extremes that are affecting low-income, climate-vulnerable countries, beyond the scale of adaptation measures right now and must be addressed immediately by richer countries that bear the lion's share of the responsibility for emissions. And we can do this because we do have the solutions at hand. And that is a very important piece to keep remembering. We have the solutions to cut our emissions. We need to get them deployed¹³ as quickly as possible - renewable energy, energy efficiency, electrifying¹⁴ every piece of our economy that we can. And we can do this if we take on the power of the fossil fuel industry, which even now is expanding its profits as the world is burning.

MARTIN: What's America's record on all this?

CLEETUS: The United States comes to this COP with one really important contribution, the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which will put us on track to cut our emissions about 40% below 2005 levels by 2030. But that's not enough on the global stage because the U.S. is also the single largest contributor on a cumulative¹⁵ basis to heat-trapping emissions. We have to provide climate finance that we've promised and that Congress has failed to deliver. And we have to address loss and damage, which here at COP means agreeing to setting up a fund for loss and damage.

MARTIN: Is that likely?

CLEETUS: It's on the agenda here at COP. We have - it's a hard-fought agenda item. We do have loss and damage on the agenda. But now the fight is for a good, solid, fair outcome, getting the fund here at COP so that it can then be resourced over the next few years for all the people on the front lines of this climate crisis.

MARTIN: Rachel Cleetus is policy director with the Climate and Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Thanks for your time this morning. We appreciate it.

CLEETUS: Thank you so much, Rachel.

1 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。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

4 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

5 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

6 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

7 ecosystems   

n.生态系统( ecosystem的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are highly sensitive and delicately balanced ecosystems in the forest. 森林里有高度敏感、灵敏平衡的各种生态系统。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Madagascar's ecosystems range from rainforest to semi-desert. 马达加斯加生态系统类型多样，从雨林到半荒漠等不一而足。 来自辞典例句

8 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

9 leverages   

促使…改变( leverage的第三人称单数 )； [美国英语]杠杆式投机，（使）举债经营，（使）利用贷款进行投机

参考例句：

• Additionally, this approach leverages the benefits of incremental and full backups. 除此之外，这一个作法也使渐近式以及完全的备份变得容易。
• A simple formula for building mutual value-creating relationships with consumers leverages dialogue, data, and insights. 与客户建立共同的价值创造关系，一条简单的准则就是利用对话、数据和洞察力。

10 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。

11 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。

12 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

13 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

14 electrifying   

v.使电气化( electrify的现在分词 )；使兴奋

参考例句：

• The dancers gave an electrifying performance. 舞蹈演员们的表演激动人心。
• The national orchestra gave an electrifying performance of classic music. 国家交响乐团举行了一次古典音乐的震撼性演出。 来自辞典例句

15 cumulative   

adj.累积的，渐增的

参考例句：

• This drug has a cumulative effect.这种药有渐增的效力。
• The benefits from eating fish are cumulative.吃鱼的好处要长期才能显现。