VOA常速英语2007年-Britain Pledges Huge Carbon Emission Cuts by 20

By Tom Rivers
London
19 November 2007

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is urging all nations to rise to the challenges of combatting global warming, which he compared to the challenge of recovery after World War II. For VOA, Tom Rivers in London reports, Mr. Brown wants his country to set an example and cut carbon emissions¹ by at least 60 percent by the year 2050.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown says there will be hard choices and tough decisions ahead, and the world must rise to the challenge of combatting the effects of global warming.

"The climate change crisis is the product of many generations," he said. "But overcoming it must be the great project of this generation. And, this project will have to involve not just America and Europe as in 1945, but the entire community of nations. So, once again, leaders will have to show vision and determination, because, just as in 1945, we will have to understand that it is only by rising to the challenges of change that we can at all times guarantee our prosperity and security now and into the future."

Mr. Brown said Britain is in a position to lead, and he proposed a climate action plan to sharply reduce Britain's so-called carbon footprint, the amount of greenhouse gases produced.

Last week, the British government announced it would aim for a 60 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050. On Monday, the prime minister said that could even be increased to an 80 percent cut, if further study shows that might be attainable².

The British leader says, while the richest countries have caused climate change, it is the poorest which are already suffering its effects.

Mr. Brown says Britain can become a world leader in constructing what he called a low-carbon economy. In addition to benefiting the global climate, he said, such an approach could translate into hundreds-of-thousands of new British jobs and a vast export sector³ in the decades to come.

Brown's ambitious plan sets out Britain's position just two weeks before global environment ministers meet in Bali to work on a successor agreement to the Kyoto protocol⁴ on global warming, which expires in five years.

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 attainable   

a.可达到的，可获得的

参考例句：

• They set the limits of performance attainable. 它们确定着可达到的运行限度。
• If objectives are to be meaningful to people, they must be clear, attainable, actionable, and verifiable. 如果目标对人们是具有意义的，则目标必须是清晰的，能达到的，可以行动的，以及可供检验的。

3 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

4 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。