A Short History of UN Climate Deal Promises

A Short History of UN Climate Deal Promises

联合国气候协议承诺的简史

【听力音频】

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　　By Gregory Stachel

　　17 December 2023

　　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 Protocol

　　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 emissions by about five percent compared to their emission 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 economist 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 atmospheric warming "well below" 2 degrees Celsius 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 binding 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 activist Greta Thunberg. She helped lead a worldwide movement of youth activists 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 cyclones, rising sea levels, floods and droughts. The experts blame the extreme events on increasing temperatures in Earth's atmosphere.

　　I'm Gena Bennett. And I'm Gregory Stachel.

　　Guaurav Saini And Sibi Arasu reported this story for The Associated Press with Press Trust of India. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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　　作者：Gregory Stachel

　　2023年12月17日

　　近日，来自近200个国家的联合国代表在阿联酋迪拜举行了一次气候会议。

　　代表们一致认为，世界必须远离化石燃料，如石油、天然气和煤炭。

　　今年的联合国气候变化会议被称为COP28。最近，美联社详细介绍了近30年来一些重要气候谈判的主要结果：

　　京都议定书

　　京都议定书是联合国第三次高级别气候会议，于1997年在日本京都举行。

　　该协议要求41个碳气体排放量大的国家将其排放量与1990年的排放水平相比，减少约5%。

　　到2005年，各国同意了京都议定书的一些条款。然而，美国和中国并未批准该协议。这两个国家拥有世界上最大的两个经济体，并且产生最多的碳气体。

　　从某些指标来看，京都议定书并未成功。自那时以来，排放量大大增加。但这是联合国成员国首次达成一致，认为碳气体是一个问题。

　　哥本哈根的气候资金

　　2009年在丹麦哥本哈根举行的气候会议被广泛视为失败。发展中和发达国家在削减排放以及贫穷国家是否可以使用石油、天然气和煤炭来发展经济上存在分歧。

　　然而，富裕国家承诺每年向发展中国家提供1000亿美元。这笔钱将在2020年用于绿色技术。绿色技术通常指的是使用时不产生污染的能源技术。

　　但是，富裕国家在2020年代初并未达到他们的1000亿美元的目标。这引发了来自发展中国家和环保人士的批评。

　　2022年，国际经济组织经济合作与发展组织表示，富裕国家可能已经达到了他们的1000亿美元的目标。

　　但是，英国非营利组织乐施会表示，70%的资金以贷款的形式存在。它表示，这些贷款加剧了发展中国家的债务问题。

　　此外，越来越多的与天气相关的灾害被归咎于气候变化。专家表示，承诺的资金不足。英国经济学家尼古拉斯·斯特恩表示，到2030年，发展中国家每年可能需要2万亿美元用于气候项目和恢复。

　　巴黎协定

　　巴黎协定被广泛认为是联合国关于气候变化的最重要的协议。在2015年，大约196个国家同意将大气温度的升高保持在2摄氏度以下，这是协议所称的"工业化前的水平"。后来，目标变为将升温限制在1.5摄氏度以下。

　　联合国表示，巴黎协定是一项"具有法律约束力的国际条约"，这意味着在批准它的国家中，它具有法律的效力。但是，对于不遵守其规定的国家，似乎并没有惩罚措施。

　　如今，将大气温度的升高限制在1.5摄氏度仍然是气候讨论的核心。联合国专家表示，世界的温度还没有超过巴黎协定设定的限制。联合国表示，自19世纪初以来，它已经从1.1升高到1.2摄氏度。但是，除非迅速大幅削减排放，否则大气将很快达到1.5度的限制。

　　格拉斯哥和煤炭

　　巴黎协定之后的六年，气候官员希望有另一项协议来加强2015年达成的水平。

　　原定在苏格兰格拉斯哥举行的会议因为COVID-19大流行而推迟到2021年。会议中包括由青少年气候活动家格雷塔·通贝里领导的抗议活动。她帮助领导了一个全球的青年活动家运动，要求领导人采取更多行动。

　　在格拉斯哥，各国同意"逐步减少"煤炭使用。这与"逐步淘汰"是不同的。世界上最大的两个煤炭使用国，印度和中国，推动了这一变化。

　　到目前为止，大多数国家都未能实现在格拉斯哥协议上做出的承诺。煤炭排放量增加，大多数主要使用煤炭的国家还没有减缓燃料使用。

　　去年，气候谈判在埃及度假城市沙姆沙伊赫举行。在那里，各国首次同意为贫穷国家设立一个基金。

　　代表们同意设立一个损失和损害基金。其目标是为遭受严重天气事件损害的国家提供资金。

　　在COP27会议上，代表们在巴基斯坦的一场洪水造成约2000人死亡，损失数十亿美元后，呼吁设立这个基金。

　　这个基金在今年在迪拜举行的会谈的第一天正式成立。已经承诺了超过7亿美元。捐赠给这个基金是自愿的。

　　联合国气候专家表示，由于气旋、海平面上升、洪水和干旱等与天气相关的事件，需要数十亿美元。专家们将这些极端事件归咎于地球大气中温度的升高。

　　我是吉娜·贝内特。我是格雷戈里·斯塔切尔。

　　Guaurav Saini和Sibi Arasu为印度新闻信托社报道了这个故事。格雷戈里·斯塔切尔为VOA学习英语改编了它。

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　　这个故事中的词汇

　　emission – n. 从源头产生或释放某物（如能源或气体）的行为

　　phase out – phr. v. 在一段时间内逐渐停止使用、制造或做某事

　　fund – n. 用于特殊目的的一笔钱