VOA标准英语2009年-UN Official Calls for Investment in Climate Tec

 senior United Nations' official in Asia says the financial crisis hitting regional economies is an opportunity to boost investment in "green" technologies to impact climate change. The comments by U.N. Undersecretary General Noeleen Heyzer, head of the U.N. regional economic and social commission, comes amid fears Asia is failing to present a strong profile in climate-change talks and faces outcomes dictated¹ by richer Western nations.
　
Dr. Noeleen Heyzer

The executive secretary of the United Nation's economic commission for Asia and the Pacific, Noeleen Heyzer, says investment in new climate change technologies in Asia and the Pacific needs to be stepped up, despite the economic slowdown.

In an interview with VOA, Heyzer says the issue of climate change needs to be addressed, given the consequences from the impact of climate change on economies struggling to recover from the global slowdown.

"The climate-change agenda is real. We are already experiencing it in terms of more severe weather patterns, in terms of cyclones², in terms of extreme heat in many areas, in terms of drought, in terms of flooding," she said. "And, all this, in fact, will affect our economy. So you cannot, in a sense, de-link the climate change agenda from the economic growth and sustainability agenda."

Recent reports have raised fears climate change is threatening or could reverse decades of social and economic progress across Southeast Asia.

The Singapore-based Economy and Environment Program for South East Asia says the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Sumatra and Indonesia are all countries at risk to the impact of severe climate changes.

Heyzer says that, as countries put in place economic stimulus³ packages to revitalize economies, they also needed to generate what he calls "economies of the future". She says Asia and the Pacific needed to promote more private-sector investment in climate-change technologies.

"We need to upscale it [investment] and its financing. It needs innovative⁴ financing to move this forward," said Heyzer. "The state will have to be brought in, in order to provide the policy framework that allows the transfers of these technologies and to open up new markets, in terms of the new carbon trading."

Heyzer says the crisis should be viewed as an opportunity to promote economies where growth is more sustainable, in the longer term.

"Every crisis provides an opportunity. It is time to rethink the foundations of the economic strategy that we have built on and shift it to the economy of the future that is more sustainable and that can generate growth but at the same time value the gifts that earth has given us in terms of the many of the ecological⁵ resources which we have, from water to climate," she added. "These are all global goods."

The call comes amid growing pressure on Asia to take a higher profile in U.N. climate change talks under the Kyoto protocol⁶. A new deal on climate change is expected to be agreed to in Copenhagen in December.

Analysts⁷ says Asia needs to ensure the outcome from the international climate talks is as broad based as possible, rather than determined⁸ by positions taken by wealthier nations.

Japan, India and China are seen as being among the world's top five emitters of greenhouse gases, with China having surpassed the United States as the world's major carbon polluter.

1 dictated   

v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• He dictated a letter to his secretary. 他向秘书口授信稿。
• No person of a strong character likes to be dictated to. 没有一个个性强的人愿受人使唤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 cyclones   

n.气旋( cyclone的名词复数 )；旋风；飓风；暴风

参考例句：

• The pricipal objective in designing cyclones is to create a vortex. 设计旋风除尘器的主要目的在于造成涡旋运动。 来自辞典例句
• Middle-latitude cyclones originate at the popar front. 中纬度地区的气旋发源于极锋。 来自辞典例句

3 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

4 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

5 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.

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 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

8 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。