VOA慢速英语-IN THE NEWS - Lack of Details in G8 Agreement on Cli

Group of Eight leaders in Japan set a goal to cut global carbon emissions¹ by at least half by 2050. Developing countries say rich nations have to take the lead. Transcript² of radio broadcast:
11 July 2008

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
　

G8 leaders from the left, Italy's Silvio Berlusconi, Canada's Stephen Harper, Russia's Dmitry Medvedev, George Bush, Japan's Yasuo Fukuda, France's Nicolas Sarkozy, Germany's Angela Merkel, Britain's Gordon Brown and European Union President Jose Manuel Barroso

Leaders of the Group of Eight met this week on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. The G-Eight countries include Britain, Canada, France and Germany. The others are Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.

In a statement on the situation in Zimbabwe, the leaders deplored³ the actions of the government of President Robert Mugabe. They said they will take financial and other measures against those responsible for violence in connection with the recent presidential election.

The leaders also promised to fight the crisis of rising food prices and to support development in Africa.

But the major issue of the three-day meeting was climate change.

The leaders agreed on a goal of at least a fifty percent reduction in worldwide carbon emissions by two thousand fifty. But many environmentalists criticized the lack of any detailed⁴ plans for working toward that goal.

Charles Albani is a Nigerian activist⁵ with the group Global Call to End Poverty. He told VOA that the lack of details showed a lack of urgency among rich nations about the effects of global warming.

The leaders were joined for a time by the leaders of China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. The G-Eight leaders had agreed among themselves that fast-growing developing nations must also share in cutting emissions. But the leaders of the five so-called emerging nations said the developed world must take the lead in reducing emissions.

Leaders of Australia, South Korea and Indonesia also joined the meeting of major economies.

China and India are the world's fastest-growing carbon producers. But for years China and India have resisted efforts to force them to reduce emissions for fear it could damage their economic growth.

They say rich countries created the current problems through their burning of fossil fuels and should lead efforts to solve them. China and India say they have more immediate⁶ needs to help hundreds of millions of people living in poverty.

Some studies suggest that China may have already passed the United States as the leading producer of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. But Max Lawson, a policy adviser⁷ for Oxfam International, says that per person, the United States emits about four times more carbon than China. And Alden Meyer from the Union of Concerned Scientists says developing countries are taking some steps to reduce emissions.

As VOA's Kurt Achin reported from Hokkaido, there is wide agreement on at least one thing. Any deal on reducing carbon emissions is sure to fail unless it also includes emerging economies.

This was President Bush's last G-Eight summit; he leaves office in January. The group's chairman this year was Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. Next is Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. For more about the G-Eight summit, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

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 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 deplored   

v.悲叹，痛惜，强烈反对( deplore的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They deplored the price of motor car, textiles, wheat, and oil. 他们悲叹汽车、纺织品、小麦和石油的价格。 来自辞典例句
• Hawthorne feels that all excess is to be deplored. 霍桑觉得一切过分的举动都是可悲的。 来自辞典例句

4 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

5 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

6 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

7 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。