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VOA标准英语2012--UN Climate Talks Begin in Doha

时间:2012-11-27 08:38:25

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UN Climate Talks Begin in Doha

Conference president, Sheikh Abdullah Bin1 Hama Al-Attiyah, reminded delegates in the cavernous Doha National Convention Center that the agenda for the two-week meeting is ambitious and challenging.

"We must achieve a second commitment period under the Kyoto protocol2," he said. "We must achieve progress in what we undertook in Durban."

In Durban negotiators agreed to extend the Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 climate change treaty that expires this year. The protocol identified increased atmospheric3 levels of greenhouse gases, such as industrial CO2 emissions4, as a major factor in climate change, and it set emission- reduction goals for industrialized countries. 

However, delegates exempted5 emerging economies like China, India and Brazil, which are now among the world’s largest emitters.

This year in Doha, climate experts hope negotiators can come up with a more equitable6 formula for curbing7 carbon emissions. 

Jennifer Morgan directs the climate and energy program for World Resources Institute, a Washington-based think tank. She says striking a deal in Doha will depend heavily on the positions taken by the United States, which signed, but failed to ratify8 the Kyoto treaty. Morgan notes that President Barack Obama has pledged to pursue a new international climate agreement, though not one that threatens the U.S. economic recovery.

“I think that with the re-election of President Obama, there is a high expectation here from countries that they will hear a new voice from the U.S., that it will be more progressive and try and move things forward more aggressively than it has done in the past,” she said.

More than 17,000 delegates and representatives from non-governmental organizations, business and academia are expected to attend the U.N. climate meeting, which for the first time is being held in a Persian Gulf9 state. 

Executive Secretary of the Conference Christina Figueres told delegates to seize the opportunity.

“On this historic occasion the Gulf region has an unequalled world stage to showcase the contributions made to reduce the Gulf’s food and water vulnerabilities, to put regional energy growth on a more sustainable path and to build a safer, stronger and resilient energy future for all countries,” he said.

Climate expert Jennifer Morgan says petroleum-rich Qatar would be wise to take up that challenge and reduce its carbon footprint. The host nation leads the world in per-capita greenhouse gas emissions. 

“Right now there are no pledges from this part of the world towards reducing emissions, [or] building up renewable energy. And that’s a big gap," she said. "You have much poorer countries around the world already acting10 and pledging, and I think that is going to be one of the big things that people are looking to see, if there are any progressive actors in the region here.”

Morgan says she’s worried that without leadership from the largest carbon-emitters, the Doha talks will stall.

“You need those big players to come out and take on those actors that don’t want to move very fast," she said. "Right now it’s in a bit of a hovering11 mode with very few countries really willing to take very clear action. And it will stay in a hovering mode.”

Meanwhile, the planet continues to warm. A U.N. report out last week finds that based on current reduction pledges, the world is on course for a 3- to 5-degree Celsius12 warming over the next century, which scientists say could cause a steady rise in sea levels and trigger more frequent and severe floods, droughts, and storms. 

The U.N. climate meeting continues through December 7.


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1 bin yR2yz     
n.箱柜;vt.放入箱内;[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件
参考例句:
  • He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
  • He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。
2 protocol nRQxG     
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 atmospheric 6eayR     
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。
4 emissions 1a87f8769eb755734e056efecb5e2da9     
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。
5 exempted b7063b5d39ab0e555afef044f21944ea     
使免除[豁免]( exempt的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • His bad eyesight exempted him from military service. 他因视力不好而免服兵役。
  • Her illness exempted her from the examination. 她因病而免试。
6 equitable JobxJ     
adj.公平的;公正的
参考例句:
  • This is an equitable solution to the dispute. 这是对该项争议的公正解决。
  • Paying a person what he has earned is equitable. 酬其应得,乃公平之事。
7 curbing 8c36e8e7e184a75aca623e404655efad     
n.边石,边石的材料v.限制,克制,抑制( curb的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Progress has been made in curbing inflation. 在控制通货膨胀方面已取得了进展。
  • A range of policies have been introduced aimed at curbing inflation. 为了抑制通货膨胀实施了一系列的政策。
8 ratify uATzc     
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。
9 gulf 1e0xp     
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。
10 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
11 hovering 99fdb695db3c202536060470c79b067f     
鸟( hover的现在分词 ); 靠近(某事物); (人)徘徊; 犹豫
参考例句:
  • The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
  • I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。
12 Celsius AXRzl     
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。

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