美国国家公共电台 NPR 史上最长气候大会艰难落幕 成果有限分歧仍存

The longest-ever global climate talks ended on Sunday in Madrid but with not much to show. The summit was supposed to get countries on track to meet the targets of the Paris climate accord. That didn't really happen. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the event as a lost opportunity.

David Waskow just got back from the summit, and he's in our studio. Good morning.

DAVID WASKOW: Good morning.

KING: He's director of the International Climate Institute at the World Resources Institute, which is an environmental research group. So what was the mood when the summit broke up?

WASKOW: Not a great mood in many ways. This was a set of talks meant to take forward the Paris Agreement, which is the landmark¹ climate agreement that was struck in 2015, and that now needs to move forward on many fronts. And what we saw there in Madrid was a strong sense of a disconnect — a gulf², really — between what we've been seeing in the streets with protesters and with youth, with businesses and cities around the world taking action — all of that on the one hand — and on the other hand, what was actually taking place in the negotiating halls and what countries were saying and doing.

KING: And so I guess the question is — it seems like the activists³ are pushing, pushing, pushing and the countries are saying, no, no, no, no, no, not yet — why? Why was the outcome so disappointing?

WASKOW: Well, the biggest gap was really with the major economies, the biggest emitters in the world. And they are — they have been dragging their heels, many of them, on taking action. Next year is a critical moment. In fact, under the Paris Agreement, countries are meant to ramp⁴ up their actions — meant to strengthen their commitments under the agreement.

And there was a lot of heel-dragging on that question. And it wasn't really until the last 24 hours when we saw a pivot⁵. Many of the vulnerable countries — small island countries, least developed countries — pushed very hard to have language on strengthening action next year. And so we saw that come through, but it was really in the last moment. And meanwhile, there were other elements of the Paris Agreement that were meant to be taken forward, for example, on carbon markets, that didn't really come to fruition there.

KING: Why — carbon markets was a big point of this summit. Can you explain just briefly⁶ — I know it's kind of confusing — but why is there no agreement on what should happen with carbon markets? Why is that so hard to get to?

WASKOW: Well, the issues on the table were about how to go about trading carbon credits among countries. And there were a couple of issues in play, but mostly this came down to what to do with the carbon credits from the previous agreement — the Kyoto Protocol⁷...

KING: OK.

WASKOW: ...Which we're coming to an end to. And there are some countries — Brazil was really at the forefront of them — who want to use carbon credits from the Kyoto Protocol — in other words, from before 2020 — for action that's supposed to happen after 2020 leading up to — for the next decade, essentially⁸. So there was that push from Brazil and some of its allies. Meanwhile, Australia also wanted to use a lot of carbon credits that it has from that previous arrangement.

So this was sort of, you know, taking the old elements of action, taking those old emissions⁹ reductions and saying we'll apply them to the future, to the action that needs to happen over the next decade. We know from what the science has told us we need to cut emissions globally in about half by 2030. So this would erode¹⁰ the kind of action that actually is needed on the ground.

KING: This is a disagreement over how we move forward. OK. The U.S. was involved in these talks even though the Trump¹¹ administration has withdrawn¹² from the Paris climate accord. How did that play with the other countries there?

WASKOW: Not well. The U.S. was particularly vocal¹³ on questions of finance, not really wanting there to be strong signals on financing climate action in developing countries who need it both to reduce emissions and to adapt to the serious impacts that they're having. And it was really quite concerning to see the U.S. being so vocal at a time when it's going to be out of the agreement fully¹⁴ in a year's time from now.

KING: Do you see any room for optimism, any reason for optimism moving forward?

WASKOW: Well, next year is a critical year. It is the year 2020, when countries are meant to increase their actions, strengthen their commitments under Paris. And we've seen some movement. The European Union, for example, has moved forward. But others need to now take that next step. The alarm bell is ringing.

KING: OK. All eyes on 2020. David Waskow with the World Resources Institute, thanks so much for coming in.

WASKOW: Thank you.

1 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

5 pivot   

v.在枢轴上转动；装枢轴，枢轴；adj.枢轴的

参考例句：

• She is the central pivot of creation and represents the feminine aspect in all things.她是创造的中心枢轴，表现出万物的女性面貌。
• If a spring is present,the hand wheel will pivot on the spring.如果有弹簧，手轮的枢轴会装在弹簧上。

6 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

7 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。

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 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。

10 erode   

v.侵蚀，腐蚀，使...减少、减弱或消失

参考例句：

• Once exposed,soil is quickly eroded by wind and rain.一旦暴露在外，土壤很快就会被风雨侵蚀。
• Competition in the financial marketplace has eroded profits.金融市场的竞争降低了利润。

11 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

12 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

13 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

14 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。