英语听力精选进阶版 14397

UN: World must end 'dirty' fuel use

Summary

14 April 2014

A long-awaited UN report on how to curb¹ climate change says the world must rapidly move away from carbon-intensive fuels. There must be a "massive shift" to renewable energy, says the study released in Berlin by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 

Reporter:

David Shukman

Report

The authors acknowledge that a transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy is easier to recommend than to achieve. Many countries are locked into using fuels like coal. 

Here in Germany coal provides nearly half the electricity. But because greenhouse gases are building up in the atmosphere so rapidly, the conclusion is that it's better to make the change sooner rather than later. Professor Jim Skea at Imperial College is a leading figure on the panel.

"The message is that we need to start from 2020 onwards. If you wait as long as 2030 to put in place measures, it is going to start to get difficult. Emissions² have risen more quickly in the last ten years than they have at any point in the past, and if we carry on in that kind of way till 2030, then you will be faced with these difficult choices. We need to move much more quickly than that."

One surprise is a low estimate for the cost of phasing out fossil fuels and boosting wind and solar power. The panel says that less than one tenth of 1% will be shaved off annual global growth. However, this figure rests on a host of assumptions, and for the moment, renewable energy still needs subsidies³, which raises questions about public acceptance. 

The panel does believe its options are feasible and it hopes they'll be implemented⁴ in the coming years.

1 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。

2 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。

3 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句