纽约时报 第二十六届联合国气候变化大会讨论哪些问题?(2)

 

 

    The United States climate envoy¹, John Kerry, who had recently described the summit as “the last best hope” last week tried to manage expectations.

    美国气候使者约翰克里上周试图控制人们的预期，他最近曾把这次峰会形容为“最后的、最美好的希望”。

    “Glasgow was never,Glasgow was never, ever going to get every country joining up in Glasgow or this year necessarily,,” he said in a telephone interview Thursday.

    他在周四的电话采访中说:“格拉斯哥从来没有打算让每个国家都加入格拉斯哥的行列，今年绝对不会是这种情况。”

    “It was going to galvanize the raising of ambition on a global basis.”

    “这将在全球范围内激发雄心壮志。”

    The goals of the summit are to have countries nudge each other to rein² in their emissions³,峰会的目标是让各国相互推动，控制各自的排放，commit financial support to low-income countries to deal with the impacts, and iron out some of the rules of the Paris Agreement.

    承诺向低收入国家提供财政支持，以应对影响，并敲定《巴黎协定》的一些规则。

    The agreement stipulated⁴ that countries come together every five years to update their climate action plans and nudge each other to do more.

    该协议规定，各国每五年举行一次会议，更新各自的气候行动计划，并推动彼此采取更多行动。

    The five-year mark was missed because of the pandemic.

    由于新冠疫情，错过了五年的目标。

    The climate summit was postponed⁵. Climate disasters piled on.

    气候峰会被推迟。气候灾害层出不穷。

    The pandemic is important in another sense.

    从另一个意义上说，这场新冠疫情也很重要。

    It offers a grim lesson on the prospects⁶ for collective action.

    它为集体行动的前景提供了一个严峻的教训。

    Countries turned inward to protect their own citizens,各国转而向内保护本国公民，

    and sometimes their own pharmaceutical⁷ industries, resulting in a starkly⁸ inequitable distribution of vaccines⁹.

    有时他们自己的制药行业，导致了疫苗分配的明显不公平。

    Half the world’s population remains¹⁰ unvaccinated, mainly in countries of the global south.

    世界上有一半人口仍未接种疫苗，主要是在全球南部国家。

    “We’ve just experienced the worst part of humanity’s response to a global crisis,”

    “我们刚刚经历了人类应对全球危机的最糟糕阶段，”

    said Tasneem Essop, executive director of Climate Action Network, an activist¹¹ group.

    气候变化行动网络（活动组织）执行主任塔斯尼姆·埃索普说。

    “And if this is going to be the track record for addressing the global climate crisis, then we are in trouble.

    “如果这将成为对过去解决全球气候危机的记录，那么我们就有麻烦了。

    I’m hoping this is a moment of reflection and inflection.”

    我希望这是一个反思和改变的时刻。”

    Meanwhile, anger is mounting against official inaction.

    与此同时，人们对官方不作为的愤怒也与日俱增。

    The streets of Glasgow are expected to fill with tens of thousands of protesters.

    预计格拉斯哥街头将挤满数万名抗议者。

    The main battle lines shaping up at the Glasgow talks, known as the 26th session of the Conference of Parties, or COP26,格拉斯哥会谈（联合国气候变化大会第二十六次会议 ）形成了主要战线，have to do with who is responsible for the warming of the planet that is already underway,主要的战线是关于谁应该对已经开始的地球变暖负责，who should do what to keep it from getting worse, and how to live with the damage already done.

    谁应该做什么来防止它变得更糟，以及如何忍受已经造成的破坏。

    The venue¹² is itself a reminder¹³.

    会议场所本身就是一个提醒。

    In the mid-19th century, Glasgow was a center of heavy industry and shipbuilding.

    19世纪中期，格拉斯哥是重工业和造船中心。

    Its power and wealth rose as Britain conquered nations across Asia and Africa, extracting their riches and becoming the world’s leading industrial power, until the United States took the mantle¹⁴.

    随着英国征服亚洲和非洲国家，攫取他们的财富，成为世界领先的工业强国，英国的实力和财富不断上升，直到美国接过了这一重任。

    The largest share of the emissions that have already heated the planet came mainly from the United States and Europe, including Britain.

    在已经使地球变暖的排放中，最大的份额主要来自美国和欧洲，包括英国。

    Tensions over money are so profound that they threaten to derail cooperation.

    资金紧张如此严重，以至于有可能破坏合作。

    In 2010, rich countries had promised to pay $100 billion a year by 2020 to help poor countries address climate change.

    2010年，富裕国家承诺到2020年每年支付1000亿美元，帮助贫穷国家应对气候变化。

    Some of that money has been paid but the full amount will not materialize until 2023, three years late,部分资金已经支付，但全部资金要到2023年才会兑现，这已经晚了三年。

    according to the latest plan announced by a group of industrialized countries.

    根据一些工业化国家宣布的最新计划，

    Even more fraught¹⁵ is the idea of industrialized countries also paying reparations to vulnerable nations to compensate¹⁶ for the damage already done.

    更令人担忧的想法是，工业化国家也向脆弱国家支付赔款，以补偿已经造成的损害。

    Known in diplomatic circles as a fund for loss and damage, discussions about this have been postponed for years because of opposition¹⁷ from countries like the United States.

    由于美国等国的反对，这个在外交界被称为（应对气候）损失和破坏的基金项目已经被推迟了多年。

    Mr. Kerry this week said he was “supportive” of the idea of assisting countries who can’t adapt their way out of climate change,克里本周表示，他“支持”帮助那些无法适应气候变化的国家的想法，but remained concerned about opening the floodgates of liability claims.

    但仍担心会打开责任索赔的闸门。

    Then there are tensions over whether countries are doing their fair share to reduce their emissions.

    其次，各国是否在减少排放方面尽了自己应尽的责任，也引发了紧张局势。

    The Biden administration has pledged that the United States will slash¹⁸ emissions by about half by 2030, compared to 2005 levels.

    拜登政府承诺，到2030年，美国将在2005年的水平上削减约一半的排放量。

    But President Biden’s ability to reach that target is unclear,但拜登总统是否有能力达到这一目标尚不清楚，as legislation has been watered down and stalled in Congress, partly by a single Democratic lawmaker with ties to the fossil fuel industry.

    由于该法案在国会遭到削弱和搁置，部分原因是一位与化石燃料行业有联系的民主党议员阻挠。

    President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil also plans to stay home.

    巴西总统雅伊尔·博尔索纳罗也计划留在国内。

    President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is not going, either, but may offer remarks remotely.

    俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京也不会出席，但可能会发表远程讲话。

    India is unlikely to commit to phase out its heavy reliance on coal power to meet its growing energy needs,印度不太可能承诺逐步消除对煤炭的严重依赖，以满足其日益增长的能源需求，though it is quickly expanding solar power in its energy mix.

    尽管印度正在其能源结构中迅速扩展太阳能。

1 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。

2 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

3 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。

4 stipulated   

vt.& vi.规定；约定adj.[法]合同规定的

参考例句：

• A delivery date is stipulated in the contract. 合同中规定了交货日期。
• Yes, I think that's what we stipulated. 对呀，我想那是我们所订定的。 来自辞典例句

5 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

6 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

7 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

8 starkly   

adj. 变硬了的,完全的 adv. 完全,实在,简直

参考例句：

• The city of Befast remains starkly divided between Catholics and Protestants. 贝尔法斯特市完全被处在天主教徒和新教徒的纷争之中。
• The black rocks stood out starkly against the sky. 那些黑色的岩石在天空衬托下十分显眼。

9 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

12 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

13 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

14 mantle   

n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红

参考例句：

• The earth had donned her mantle of brightest green.大地披上了苍翠欲滴的绿色斗篷。
• The mountain was covered with a mantle of snow.山上覆盖着一层雪。

15 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

16 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

17 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

18 slash   

vi.大幅度削减；vt.猛砍，尖锐抨击，大幅减少；n.猛砍，斜线，长切口，衣衩

参考例句：

• The shop plans to slash fur prices after Spring Festival.该店计划在春节之后把皮货降价。
• Don't slash your horse in that cruel way.不要那样残忍地鞭打你的马。