19考研英語必讀美文： 氣候變化高舉環保大旗

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►China is using climate policy to push through domestic reforms.中國以環境政策推動國內改革

●WHEN world leaders gathered in Paris to discuss cutting planet-heating emissions, a pall of smog hung over Beijing. In parts of the capital levels of fine particulate matter reached 30 times the limit deemed safe. Though air pollution and climate change are different things, Chinese citydwellers think of them in the same, poisoned breath. The murky skies seemed irreconcilable with the bright intentions promised in France.

當各國領導人齊聚巴黎討論有關減少溫室氣體排放的問題，北京被厚厚的霧霾籠罩。在首都的某些地方，大氣細顆粒物的含量達到了最低安全指標的30倍。盡管空氣污染和氣候變化不是一件事，但生活在城市的中國居民認為他們都會在我們呼吸的過程中毒害我們的健康。灰蒙蒙的天空似乎和領導人在法國所承諾的美好意愿不太相符。

●Yet a marked change has taken place in China’s official thinking. Where once China viewed international climate talks as a conspiracy to constrain its economy, it now sees a global agreement as helpful to its own development.

然而中國官員的思維模式開始有了顯著的變化。曾經中國認為國際氣候談判是一場阻礙其發展的鴻門宴，現在中國領導人將全球氣候協議看成是有助其發展的一種推動。

●China accounts for two-thirds of the world’s increase in the carbon dioxide emitted since 2000. It has come a long way in recognising the problem. When China first joined international climate talks, the environment was just a minor branch of foreign policy. The ministry for environmental protection had no policymaking powers until 2008. Only in 2012 did public pressure force cities to publish air-pollution data.

自2000年以來，全球三分之二二氧化碳排放量的增長量都來自中國。而中國在很長一段時間后才開始正視這個問題。當中國第一次參加國際氣候談判時，環境問題僅僅只是其外交政策的一個小分支。環境保護部在2008年以前都沒有制定政策的權利。而出于公眾輿論的壓力，各市政府在2012年才公布了空氣污染數據。

●Yet today China pledges to cap carbon emissions by 2030 (reversing its former position that, as a developing power, it should not be bound to an absolute reduction); and it says it will cut its carbon intensity (that is, emissions per unit of GDP) by a fifth, as well as increase by the same amount the electricity generated from sources other than fossil fuels. The latest five-year plan, a blueprint for the Communist Party’s intentions that was unveiled last month, contains clear policy prescriptions for making economic development more environmentally friendly.

但是中國決定在2030年前控制碳排放(該決定與中國過往的立場完全不同，中國之前的立場是作為發展中國家的中國不應該被規定做出絕對數目的減排目標)，宣布大幅減少碳濃度(即每單位GDP的排放量)達五分之一，同時中國將增加五分之一用除化石燃料以外的清潔能源來發電的電量。在上個月最新出爐的五年計劃包含著共產黨對中國未來的規劃，其中明確包含促使經濟更環保發展的政策。

►There’s more 更多內容

●Right after the Paris summit, however it ends, China is expected to make more promises in a new document, co-written by international experts, that presents a far-reaching programme of how China should clean up its act. It is based on models that account for both economic and political viability. On top of existing plans, such as launching a national emissions-trading scheme in 2017, the government may even outline proposals for a carbon tax, something that has eluded many prosperous countries in the West.

不管過程如何，各國在巴黎峰會上通過了一份由各國專家共同撰寫的文件，其中要求中國在環境問題上給出更多的承諾，同時該文件中還有一個計劃長遠的項目用以指導中國該如何規范其行為。該文件是基于那些給出經濟可行性和政治可行性的模型。在現存計劃之外，如2017年開始運行的全國碳排放交易系統，中國政府甚至開始擬定征收碳排放稅，而在許多發達的西方國家，這都是一件避而不談的事。

●The big question is why China is now so serious about climate change. The answer is not that Communist leaders are newly converted econuts. Rather, they want to use environmental concerns to rally domestic support for difficult reforms that would sustain growth in the coming decades. Since a global slowdown in 2008 it has become clear that to continue growing, China must move its economy away from construction and energy-intensive industry towards services. At the same time, China faces an energy crunch. For instance, in recent years China has been a net importer of coal, which generates two-thirds of China’s electricity. It all argues for growth plans that involve less carbon.

問題是中國為什么現在對氣候變化如此重視?答案不是因為共產黨領導人向環境保護論低頭。相反，中國領導人希望用環境問題來召集國內支持，增援改革瓶頸，維持接下來幾十年的經濟增長。自2008年全球經濟增長放緩以來，中國領導人開始明白，要實現經濟的持續增長，中國經濟需要擺脫建筑業密集型和能源密集型的特點，轉向服務集中型經濟。與此同時，中國面臨能源枯竭問題。舉個例子，近幾年中國是煤炭凈進口國，而煤炭發電量占中國總發電量的三分之二。這些都讓低碳經濟增長計劃成為討論熱點。

●This is where signing international accords, such as the one hoped for in Paris, come in, for they will help the government fight entrenched interests at home. Observers see a parallel with China’s joining the World Trade Organisation in 2001. It allowed leaders to push through internal economic reform against fierce domestic opposition. In the same way, a global climate treaty should help it take tough measures for restructuring the economy.

正如巴黎氣候大會所預設達成的協議一樣，簽署這些國際協議能夠讓各國政府更有利地對抗國內根深蒂固的利益集團。有分析人士認為中國2001年加入世貿組織的行為也同樣有著這一目的。此舉讓中國領導人能夠在強烈的國內反對聲音中繼續推動內部經濟改革。同樣，全球性的氣候條約能夠使得一些重構經濟的硬措施成為可能。

●It will not be easy. Provincial party bosses and state-owned enterprises hate to shut factories, particularly in those parts of the country, such as Shanxi and Inner Mongolia in the north, where coal is a big employer. Cutting demand for energy is even harder. Even if the amount of electricity used by state industry falls, that used by private firms and households is bound to increase. What is more, environmental regulations and laws laid down by the centre are routinely flouted.

但是這不會是件簡單的事。各省級政府以及各個國企領導不希望關閉工廠，特別是像山西和內蒙古這些以煤礦業提供工作崗位的北方省份。降低能源需求就更苦難了。即使國有產業的用電量下降了，民用和私營企業的用電量一定都會上升。另外，由中央政府制定有關環境的法律法規常常遭到各地政府的無視。

●But cleaning up China’s act has, for the central government, become a political necessity too. Environmental issues have been major public concerns for over a decade, says Anthony Saich of Harvard University, which has conducted polls. True, rural people fret most (and with good reason) about water pollution. But those in the cities gripe about their toxic air. Both represent a reproach to the government over its neglect of people’s lives and health.

但對于中央政府來說，變更中國的行為模式也開始有了政治必要性。哈佛大學的安東尼·塞挈進行了一項投票調查，稱環境問題在過去十年中變成了公眾關心的一大問題。事情確實是這樣的，比如農村居民最擔心的是水污染問題(這個擔心也是非常合理的)。但那些居住在城市的人抱怨空氣中的毒害成分。這兩種人都表達了對政府忽略人民生命健康的斥責。

●That is why national economic goals, political goals, public opinion and international pressure all point towards trying to cut emissions, pollutants included. In particular, says Zhang Zhongxiang of Tianjin University, now that dealing with climate change is a pillar of China’s diplomacy, the government must show it can keep its promises. It has some tools at its disposal. Across the country, the environmental record of government officials has become a crucial part of their evaluation by the Communist Party; and cadres will be held accountable for their actions even after leaving their position. Several provinces have already punished officials for environmental accidents and for not enforcing environmental laws.

這也是為什么國家的經濟目標、政治期望、民眾意見以及國際壓力都將矛頭指向了減少某些污染物在內的排放量。就像天津大學的張忠祥所說的一樣，現在氣候變化問題成為中國外交的重點之一，政府必須要拿出遵守承諾的行動。中國有著其自身可用的方法處理環境問題。環境行政檔案成為了共產黨評定一個政府官員的重要依據，各級政府官員即使在離職后依然要對其在職時所作的決策負責。某些省份已經因為出現有關環境問題的事故或者沒有依環境法行政等問題對一些官員進行了懲處。

►Fifty shades of grey 五十度灰

●But there are obstacles to real change. The electricity grid and national power market are ill-equipped to increase renewable generation by much. Corruption in industrial procurement remains widespread, which does nothing to promote long-term efficiency or reductions in emissions. Competing incentives are also in play: earlier this year, the authorities forced a big Chinese investment company to buy back shares it had sold in old-fashioned industrial fields, for fear that it might depress share prices (which crashed anyway in a more general stockmarket meltdown). The government will not trust market mechanisms alone, says Yang Fuqiang of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an activist group.

但想要真正做到改變，前面還有一些攔路虎。國家電網和國家能源市場對于新能源大量涌入沒有足夠的準備。行業采購中的腐敗行為依然泛濫，這對于提高長期效率以及減少排放沒有好處。競爭激勵依然起作用：今年早些時候，一家大型中國投資公司在舊工業領域出售了許多股份，但有關部門因為擔心拋售會使股份價格貶值(雖然其股價在股市暴跌情況下依然跌至低谷)，于是強制要求其購回相應股份。維權團體自然資源保護委員會的楊富強稱，政府不會把寶都壓在市場機制上的。

●Nor are leaders yet pushing for change on all fronts. For instance, government efforts to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide are greater than for many other greenhouse gases. Scarce and polluted water, one of China’s most severe environmental challenges, is almost entirely beyond the scope of the current raft of reforms. And China refuses to publish its estimate of the environmental toll of economic growth.

但政府也沒有在每個方面都推進改革。例如政府對于減少二氧化碳和氮氧化物所采取行動明顯大于其他溫室氣體。稀缺且日益受到污染的水資源是中國最嚴重的環境威脅之一，但卻幾乎沒有沒能在這一輪改革的方案之中看到相關措施。而且中國政府拒絕透露經濟增長所帶來的環境破壞預估值。

●Sceptics scoff that China’s promises in Paris are irrelevant because emissions will probably peak regardless, long before the promised 2030. Nor has the government said how high that top might be. Yet the sceptics underestimate the importance of an international agreement for China and beyond. Like other countries, China has to date followed a pattern of “grow first, clean up later”. Yet very quickly it has recognised the dangers and drawbacks of such a policy and has been pouring money into clean energy and other innovations it hopes will provide green growth. In that, it may prove a model for other fast-developing countries. That might signal a small patch of blue sky.

持懷疑態度的人嘲弄稱中國在巴黎氣候大會上的承諾根本毫無意義，因為遠在2030年前，全球溫室氣體排放量不論如何都會達到最大。盡管沒有政府預計過這個最大的具體數值是多少，但這些人都低估了國際協議對于現在和以后的中國的重要性。和其他國家一樣，中國曾經采用“先污染后治理”的模式。但是很快中國政府就意識到了其中的危害和缺點，并投入大量資金建設清潔能源和其他有助于綠色增長模式的研發。因此，中國或許能夠成為其他高速發展國家的可模仿的例子。這可能標志著天空那一抹蔚藍色出現。