VOA常速英语2007年-Greenpeace Blocks Ship Carrying Palm Oil in Ind

By Nancy-Amelia Collins
Jakarta
16 November 2007

The international environmental group Greenpeace is blocking a ship carrying palm oil from leaving a port on Indonesia's Sumatra island. Their goal is to highlight the environmental damage caused by palm oil plantations¹ ahead of a global climate change conference taking place in Bali next month. VOA's Nancy-Amelia Collins in Jakarta has more.

Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior² ship is blocking a tanker³ carrying palm oil from leaving the port of Dumai, in Riau province on Indonesia's Sumatra island.

Riau province is home to one-quarter of Indonesia's palm oil plantations and has a huge amount of peatlands that are rich in carbon.

The peatlands are drained and burned to make way for palm oil plantations - sending huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and contributing to global warming. This helps make Indonesia the world's third largest carbon emitter after the United States and China.

Sue Conner, Greenpeace's international forest campaigner spoke⁴ to VOA from aboard the Rainbow Warrior.

"We're highlighting the issue of how a product of palm oil is driving forest destruction and climate change," she said. "And we're coming up to the meeting in Bali, the Kyoto meeting, and we are putting out a call internationally to raise the issue that forest destruction and deforestation has got to stop because it has such a huge impact on the global climate."

An international environmental conference will be held on the Indonesian island of Bali in December. Representatives of more than 180 countries will be considering progress on the implementation⁵ of the Kyoto Protocol⁶ on climate change.

Palm oil plantations are expanding rapidly in Indonesia. Global demand for the oil is increasing because it is seen as an alternative to fossil fuels. But environmentalists say it is also driving the rapid destruction of Indonesia's dwindling⁷ rainforests.

Palm oil is used in numerous food products and consumer goods. Conner says companies that use palm oil should make sure where it is coming from.

"Huge multinational⁸ companies like Unilever, Proctor and Gamble, and Nestle are buying from companies where the palm oil in that supply chain is coming from forest and peatland destruction," she said. "What we are asking big companies to do is to agree to support a moratorium⁹ on palm oil coming from forest destruction and peatland destruction."

The blockaded ship, the MT Westama, is trying to take around 30,000 tons of palm oil to India.

1 plantations   

n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Soon great plantations, supported by slave labor, made some families very wealthy. 不久之后出现了依靠奴隶劳动的大庄园，使一些家庭成了富豪。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Winterborne's contract was completed, and the plantations were deserted. 维恩特波恩的合同完成后，那片林地变得荒废了。 来自辞典例句

2 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

3 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 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。

6 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。

7 dwindling   

adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The number of wild animals on the earth is dwindling. 地球上野生动物的数量正日渐减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. 他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。 来自辞典例句

8 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

9 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。