pbs高端访谈:很难达成应对气候变化的协定

 　　JUDY WOODRUFF:Finally tonight, what's behind the long struggle to reach a new international agreement on reducing greenhouse gases?

　　Margaret Warner has our update.

　　MARGARET WARNER:It's been nearly 15 years since leaders from 37 industrialized countries agreed to reduce their carbon emissions¹ as part of the so-called Kyoto Protocol². But countries would no longer be bound to meet the requirements of the deal after December 2012, even as greenhouse gases are reaching record levels in the atmosphere.

　　For its part, the U.S. never participated in the Kyoto treaty, after Congress refused to ratify³ it. House Democrats⁴ passed a cap-and-trade bill to reduce heat-trapping emissions in 2009, but it collapsed⁵ in the Senate last year.

　　Today, international negotiators kicked off a new round of talks in Durban, South Africa, to see whether any new agreements are possible. But disagreements were apparent at the outset.

　　For more, I'm joined by Juliet Eilperin of The Washington Post.

　　And, Juliet, welcome back.

　　JULIET EILPERIN,The Washington Post: Thanks so much.

　　MARGARET WARNER:Give us a flavor of the disagreements that were immediately on view on day one of this two-week conference.

　　JULIET EILPERIN:Well, you can see how far apart the major countries are when you have, for example, the Canadian environment minister back in Ottawa saying that Kyoto is the past, and you had the lead European Union negotiator saying the countries are running from Kyoto and urging them to go forward along with the EU to a second commitment period.

　　So, clearly, there's a big gulf⁶ between many of the countries here.

　　MARGARET WARNER:So the EU officially would like to actually extend Kyoto beyond next December?

　　JULIET EILPERIN:They are the only ratified⁷ party right now that is willing to commit to a second round of emissions cuts.

　　MARGARET WARNER:So if they don't get that, what, ideally, at least in the eyes of the U.N. climate people who convened⁸ this, would Durban achieve?

　　JULIET EILPERIN:Well, what they're really hoping to achieve on a broad level is an agreement to essentially⁹ talk about a new agreement that would be forged by 2020, that, basically, could the world come together and could all the major emitters agree that they would be legally bound by something else as we go forward?

　　MARGARET WARNER:So let's go back to the '97 Kyoto agreement that the EU climate negotiator said was the past -- or, rather, the Canadian. How successful was it? In other words, how many of the countries that set binding¹⁰ targets for themselves met them?

　　JULIET EILPERIN:Well, we're getting—we have had mixed results. And, frankly¹¹, the economic recession that we have seen in the last couple years has helped curb¹² emissions somewhat recently.

　　And so by the end of 2012, there's some countries that, for example, were not on a path to meet their commitments such as Japan which may come in under the deadline, but you had—so—and you had the...

　　MARGARET WARNER:You mean because of the economic slowdown.

　　JULIET EILPERIN:Because of the slowdown, that they actually weren't as high.

　　And so—but you have countries like Canada, for example, that as of 2009 was more than 28 percent above its 1990 levels. And it had pledged to cut its emissions by 6 percent. So while the EU and some countries have met it, most countries have gone well above that.

　　MARGARET WARNER:And has the problem been that it is technically¹³ more difficult to do than anyone thought, or is it a question of political will in these various countries?

　　JULIET EILPERIN:To a large extent, it's a question of political will. There were divisions over, for example, whether to adopt binding emissions across an entire nation.

　　And if you're not willing to do that, it becomes very hard to cut it. Then, of course, when you're talking about transforming the energy sector¹⁴, that is a major task. And it does involve some economic disruption, which some countries have been unwilling¹⁵ to do.

　　MARGARET WARNER:Very big picture, the U.S., where do our emissions stand today compared to, say, '97?

　　JULIET EILPERIN:So, as of the end of 2009, which is unfortunately the most up-to-date statistics we have, we were more than 5 percent above our 1990 levels.

　　To put it in perspective, when we helped forge the Kyoto agreement, even though we didn't ratify it, we had pledged to cut our emissions by 7 percent below that. So, there's no question we would miss our target as well.

　　MARGARET WARNER:Now, meanwhile, what's the latest science on climate change? I know that the U.N. panel, the Intergovernmental Panel, came up with a fair dire¹⁶ one, what, just last week.

　　JULIET EILPERIN:Absolutely. It came up with a new report saying that there's no question that we're going to face, for example, increased heat waves going forward, intense precipitation that would be less frequent, so you would have the kind of flooding that we have seen across the country.

　　So they warned that we'd have a number of extreme weather events that would intensify¹⁷ as we go forward. In addition, the International Energy Agency just came out with a report saying that we're headed for a temperature rise that would be nearly 11 degrees by the end of the century, which is far, far above what these negotiators in Durban have pledged to reach.

　　MARGARET WARNER:The other thing that has happened recently is the controversial emails among climate scientists that came out in 2009. A new batch¹⁸ came out also recently in the last couple of weeks. Was there anything in those that in any way affected¹⁹ the debate going into this Durban meeting?

　　JULIET EILPERIN:It hasn't significantly affected the debate. It's certainly added fodder²⁰ to those who were skeptical²¹—skeptical about the connection between human activity and climate change. But in terms of the emails, there weren't revelations.

　　It was presumably from the same batch that were stolen back in 2009 and released then. And so while, for example, it caused a minor²² debate here in the United States, it didn't significantly affect what we're seeing now in Durban.

　　MARGARET WARNER:So what happens if, a year from now, in November 2012, we're sitting here and there has been nothing agreed that would replace or extend Kyoto the following month? What happens?

　　JULIET EILPERIN:Well, there's still—there was a more informal agreement that was reached last year when delegates met in Cancun at these same U.N. climate talks. And, there, individual countries, including all of the major emitters, did create new climate goals for themselves. And so while those aren't...

　　MARGARET WARNER:So, goals?

　　JULIET EILPERIN:Exactly. So they're not bound up in a legally binding treaty.

　　But—so, for example, the United States has pledged to reduce its emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels. It gave itself a new baseline to play with more. And other countries did the same. Even China adopted—adopted ones.

　　Now they're working out, for example, how they're going to measure and verify those reductions, but—so there are some—there is something in place. But it's not nearly as strict as what we have seen under the Kyoto Protocol.

　　MARGARET WARNER:And in the meantime, briefly²³, American public opinion is actually less alarmed than it was about climate change in the past.

　　JULIET EILPERIN:Yes. What we have seen is, particularly among the most conservative of Americans, they have become less concerned with climate change and are more skeptical of this connection between human activity and what's happening, despite the science.

　　And, overall, we simply just haven't seen the kind of voter intensity²⁴ that we see on other issues, such as the economy that would really propel politicians to act.

　　MARGARET WARNER:Well, Juliet Eilperin of The Washington Post, thank you.

　　JULIET EILPERIN:Thank you.

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 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。

3 ratify   

v.批准，认可，追认

参考例句：

• The heads of two governments met to ratify the peace treaty.两国政府首脑会晤批准和平条约。
• The agreement have to be ratify by the board.该协议必须由董事会批准。

4 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

6 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。

7 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

8 convened   

召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The chairman convened the committee to put the issue to a vote. 主席召集委员们开会对这个问题进行表决。
• The governor convened his troops to put down the revolt. 总督召集他的部队去镇压叛乱。

9 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。

10 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

11 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

12 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

13 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

14 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。

15 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

16 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

17 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

18 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

19 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

20 fodder   

n.草料；炮灰

参考例句：

• Grass mowed and cured for use as fodder.割下来晒干用作饲料的草。
• Guaranteed salt intake, no matter which normal fodder.不管是那一种正常的草料，保证盐的摄取。

21 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

22 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

23 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。

24 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。