VOA科学技术2023--A Short History of UN Climate Deal Promises

A Short History of UN Climate Deal Promises

United Nations delegates from nearly 200 countries recently held a climate meeting in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The delegates agreed that the world must move away from fossil fuels like oil, gas, and coal.

The U.N. meeting on climate change is called COP28 this year. Recently, The Associated Press gave details about some of the main results of notable climate talks over almost 30 years:

The Kyoto Protocol¹

The Kyoto Protocol was the third high-level U.N. climate meeting. It took place in Kyoto, Japan in 1997.

The agreement asked 41 countries that produced a lot of carbon gases to cut their emissions³ by about five percent compared to their emission² levels in 1990.

Countries agreed to some of the terms in the Kyoto Protocol by 2005. The United States and China, however, did not approve the agreement. Those countries have the world's two largest economies and produce the largest amount of carbon gases.

The Kyoto Protocol was not successful by some measures. Emissions have greatly increased since then. But it is the first time so many U.N. members agreed that carbon gases were a problem.

Copenhagen's money for the climate

The 2009 climate meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark is widely seen as a failure. Developing and developed countries disagreed on cutting emissions and whether poor nations could use oil, natural gas, and coal to grow their economies.

However, wealthy countries promised to send $100 billion a year to developing countries. The money was to be used for green technology by 2020. Green technology often describes energy technology that does not produce pollution when it is used.

But wealthy nations did not reach their goal of $100 billion by the start of the 2020s. That led to criticism from developing countries and environmentalists.

In 2022, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, an international economic group, said wealthy countries probably reached their $100-billion goal.

But the British nonprofit group Oxfam said 70 percent of the money was in the form of loans. It said the loans increased debt problems in developing countries.

Also, an increasing number of weather-related disasters are blamed on climate change. Experts say the money promised is not enough. British economist⁴ Nicholas Stern said that developing countries likely need $2 trillion every year by 2030 for climate projects and recovery.

The Paris agreement

The Paris Agreement is widely considered the single biggest U.N. agreement on climate change. In 2015, about 196 nations agreed to keep atmospheric⁵ warming "well below" 2 degrees Celsius⁶ since, what the agreement calls, "pre-industrial times." Later, the goal became limiting warming no higher than 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The U.N. says the Paris agreement is a "legally binding⁷ international treaty," meaning that it has the force of law in countries that approve it. But there do not appear to be punishments for countries that do not follow its rules.

Today, the goal of limiting the rise of the atmosphere's temperature to 1.5 degrees is still central to climate discussions. U.N. experts say the world's temperature has not passed the limit set in the Paris agreement. The U.N. says it has warmed from 1.1 to 1.2 degrees Celsius since the early 1800s. But it says the atmosphere will reach the 1.5-degree limit soon unless large cuts in emissions are made quickly.

Glasgow and coal

Six years after the Paris agreement, climate officials wanted another agreement to strengthen the levels agreed upon in 2015.

The meeting in Glasgow, Scotland was put off until 2021. It was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting included protests led by teenaged climate activist⁸ Greta Thunberg. She helped lead a worldwide movement of youth activists⁹ demanding more action from leaders.

In Glasgow, countries agreed to "phase-down" coal use. That is different from saying "phase-out." India and China, two of the world's biggest coal users, pressed for the change.

So far, most countries have failed to meet the promises they made at the Glasgow deal. Emissions from coal have increased and most major coal-using countries have yet to slow use of the fuel.

Loss and damage in Sharm el-Sheikh

Last year, climate talks took place in the Egyptian vacation town of Sharm el-Sheikh. There, countries agreed to create a fund for poor nations for the first time.

Delegates agreed to a loss and damage fund. Its aim was to provide money to countries that suffered damage from severe weather events.

Delegates at the COP27 meeting called for the fund to be created after a flood in Pakistan killed an estimated 2,000 people and caused billions of dollars in losses.

The fund was officially created on the first day of this year's talks in Dubai. Over $700 million has been promised. Giving to the fund is voluntary.

U.N. climate experts say billions of dollars are needed because of weather-related events like cyclones¹⁰, rising sea levels, floods and droughts. The experts blame the extreme events on increasing temperatures in Earth's atmosphere.

Words in This Story

emission – n. the act of producing or sending out something (such as energy or gas) from a source

phase out – phr. v. to stop using, making, or doing (something) gradually over a period of time

fund – n. an amount of money that is used for a special purpose

1 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。

2 emission   

n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发

参考例句：

• Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施，降低污染物排放总量。
• Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后，指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。

3 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。

4 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

5 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

6 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

7 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。

8 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。

9 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》

10 cyclones   

n.气旋( cyclone的名词复数 )；旋风；飓风；暴风

参考例句：

• The pricipal objective in designing cyclones is to create a vortex. 设计旋风除尘器的主要目的在于造成涡旋运动。 来自辞典例句
• Middle-latitude cyclones originate at the popar front. 中纬度地区的气旋发源于极锋。 来自辞典例句