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171 日本不会在联合国大会上讨论京都协议
Japan Will Not Press Kyoto Protocol At Climate Conference
Steven Shayman
Tokyo
15 Jul 2001 16:08 UTC
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi says the U.N. climate conference opening Monday in Germany, will not be able to 1)salvage the Kyoto Protocol on 2)combating 3)global warming. Mr. Koizumi also says his government plans to wait until October to decide whether to ratify the Kyoto pact, in order to give the United States more time to reconsider its opposition to the agreement.
Speaking during a political debate on Japanese television, Prime Minister Koizumi says Japan wants to use the time between now and the next round of U.N. climate talks in October, in Morocco, to seek ways in which the United States, Europe, and Japan can cooperate on the Kyoto Protocol.
The Koizumi government has taken on the task of 4)mediating between treaty opponent United States - the world's largest emitter of environmentally harmful 5)carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases - and European Union nations that back the framework. Tokyo has pledged to negotiate changes in the protocol, in order to try to convince the United States to sign on.
Japan failed Friday to persuade the United States to change its mind about abandoning the pact, at 6)bilateral high-level talks in Washington. Mr. Koizumi says Japan learned that the United States is against the Kyoto Protocol, but is extremely cooperative toward the goal of combating global warming. The Japanese leader gave no clue whether Japan would join the E.U. bid to 7)ratify the treaty without the United States, if Washington can not be persuaded to support the pact.
Yukio Hatoyama, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, said in the same TV program that Japan should go ahead without the United States, while the leader of one of the 8)coalition partners of Koizumi's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, New Conservative Party leader Chikage Ogi, said Japan may have to ratify the treaty without Washington in October. European countries have urged Japan to help ratify the treaty, even without U.S. support.
Countries accounting for at least 55 percent of the total 1990 carbon dioxide 9)emissions from developed nations must sign the framework. The European Union and its 10)allies together total more than 49 percent of emissions, but they cannot reach the required level without Japan's 8.5 percent.
In an 11)editorial, the left-of-center national Asahi newspaper 12)proclaimed that the eyes of the world are on Japan, and that if Tokyo decides to go along with the United States, the Kyoto Protocol would be meaningless.
(1) salvage[5sAlvIdV]n.抢救, 打捞vt.海上救助, 抢救
(2) combat[5kCmbAt]n.战斗, 格斗v.战斗, 搏斗, 抗击
(3) global warming n. 全球变暖
(4) mediate[5mi:dIeIt]v.仲裁, 调停, 作为引起...的媒介, 居中调停
(5) carbon dioxide n.[化]二氧化碳
(6) bilateral[baI5lAtErEl]adj.有两面的, 双边的
(7) ratify[5rAtIfaI]vt.批准, 认可
(8) coalition[kEJE5lIF(E)n]n.合并, 接合, 联合
(9) emission[I5mIF(E)n]n.(光、热等的)散发, 发射, 喷射
(10) allies[`AlaIz]n.联盟国, 同盟者
(11) editorial[edI5tC:rIEl]n.社论adj.编辑上的,社论的
(12) proclaim[prE5kleIm]vt.宣布, 声明, 显示, 显露
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