BEIJING
As the world gave a tepid welcome to the inconclusive results of the climate change conference that ended Sunday in Durban, some environmental activists found a ray of hope amid otherwise uninspiring results.
China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, abandoned its longstanding refusal on principle to submit to legally binding limits on its carbon emissions.
“That change of attitude is very encouraging,” says Li Yan, a climate expert with Greenpeace. “China is stepping onto a new stage.”
北京
尽管对德班气候大会的不给力结果感到失望,但一些环保活动家却在这些让人失望的结果中看到了一线希望。中国,这个世界上最大的温室气体排放国,改变了一直以来反对用法律限制碳排放量的态度。
研究温室气体的环境学家李琰说道,“中国态度的转变让人欢欣鼓舞”,“中国正在迈上一个新的台阶”。
Beijing has not yet agreed to cap its emissions, but in a hard-fought, last minute bout of negotiation it did agree to begin discussing the possibility of such a cap.
The conference was saved from failure by the deal between China, the United States, India, and the European Union to forge a new pact with legal force to replace the Kyoto Protocol.
北京还没有承诺要进行减排,但经过艰苦的谈判,他们在谈判的最后一刻承诺,将会开始讨论减排的可能性。
最终中国,美国,印度和欧盟达成一致,决定制定一个具有法律效力的新协议来代替京都议定书,这才使得大会谈判免于破裂。
The exact nature of the pact was left vague, and even the date when it will come into force is uncertain. Washington insisted that should be from 2020 rather than by 2020, but the deal marked the first time China had publicly countenanced the prospect of a legally binding commitment to limit its emissions.
协议的确切性质还尚不明确,甚至连其生效日期都还未定。美国认为生效期应在2020年之后,但在协议达成的第一时间内,中国便公开肯定了用法律方式减排的前景。
That will come as welcome news to residents of northern China, who were subjected to a heavy pall of choking pollution for several days during the Durban conference, prompting an outcry on the Internet.
这对于中国北方的居民是个好消息,因为在德班会议期间北京遇到了罕见的大雾,并在网上引起一片抗议。
China’s new flexibility will not make much difference in the near future, though. Even if the government meets its ambitious targets for more efficient energy use and boosts reliance on renewable energy sources to 15 percent by 2020, as it has said it will do, the country’s carbon output will not peak until 2030 at the earliest because of its rapid economic growth rates and heavy reliance on coal.
但是中国的最新表态在未来几年里并不会带来太大改观。即使中国政府实现了使用更多高效能源的目标,并提出在2020年前把可再生能源的使用比例提高到15%,但由于中国高速发展的经济以及对煤炭的严重依赖,其碳排放量最早在2030年才会达到顶峰并开始下降。
Chinese authorities have been taking steps for some time to reduce emissions. Between 2006 and 2010 they reduced energy intensity – the amount of energy needed per unit of economic output, by nearly 20 percent. The five year economic plan launched this year sets the country’s first carbon intensity goal, aiming to bring it down 17 percent as part of an overall pledge to cut it by 40-45 per cent by 2020.
中国政府采取减排措施已有一段时间。在06到10年间,他们的能源密集度(即单位GDP耗能)降低了近20%。今年开始的五年经济计划也首次设定减排目标,要在五年内减排17%,到2020年减排40%~45%。
China’s experience so far with energy conservation means that “its capability and confidence about taking more action on climate change have increased in the past couple of years,” says Ms. Li, explaining Beijing’s shift of stance in Durban. “China is getting more confident it can deliver on stronger targets in the future.”
李小姐(前面的李琰)针对中国在德班会议上的立场转变做出解释说道,中国目前的节能经历表明“过去几年里,中国为全球气候做出更多的能力和信心在增长”,“中国自信能在未来实现更高的目标”。
At the same time, she adds, “the government is growing more aware of the high expectations that the international community has of them. China has to find a smarter way to respond to that international pressure, and there has been a mentality change. That’s a good trend.”
同时,她还补充道,“现在的中国政府越来越能感受到国际社会对他们的期望。面对国际上的压力,中国必须妥善应对。现在政府的态度已经在改变,这是一个好的趋势”。