UN Warns of Climate-Related Setbacks
By Andrew C. Revkin

  A new United Nations  report warns  that progress toward prosperity  in  the world’s poorest  regions will be  reversed unless  rich  countries promptly begin curbing emissions  linked  to global warming while also helping poorer ones  leapfrog  to energy  sources  that pollute less than coal and oil.
  The world’s poorest  regions will also need much more help  than has been provided  to adapt  to climate changes that are already unfolding, said the authors of the study, the United Nations’ annual Human Development Report.
  The  report’s  focus on climate  refects a  top goal set by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon: prodding world leaders to act more swiftly on global warming.  

  Released Tuesday in Brasília and online at hdr.undp.org/en/,  the report builds on findings of  the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change earlier  in the year showing that poor countries face outsize risks in a warming world.
  It  also offers  a more detailed view of how poverty, particularly  in  areas near  the Equator,  creates  zones of extreme vulnerability  to water shortages,  droughts, flooding  rains and severe storms—all of which are projected  to be more  frequent or  intense  if concentrations of greenhouse gases continue to build.
  The report also  rebukes  rich  countries  for  failing to deliver on commitments  for helping poor  countries increase resilience  to climate hazards under  the Frame-work Convention on Climate Change, which dates  from 1992 and has been ratifed by nearly all the world’s nations.
  Some economists and development experts criticized the  report Tuesday, saying  that a quick, costly shift away from fossil fuels, the main source of emissions, could actu-ally backfre, blunting the climb toward prosperity that they say  is a prerequisite  for action  to  improve environmental quality.
Another  reason  for  focusing on economic growth and increased ability  to withstand climate  shocks,  this camp says,  is  that  risks are  rising not only because of warming but also because population growth in poor places is greatly increasing how many people are exposed to today’s climate-related hazards.
  The report echoes other United Nations studies and  the positions of  the European Union and many environmental groups,  calling  for  an  enormous  reversal  in  emissions trends. Many groups are calling for greenhouse-gas emissions  from developed countries  in 2050  to be 80 percent below levels measured in 1990.
  It also  says  some of  the burden  for curbing  the gases must  fall on developing countries as well, but with assistance, both fnancial and technological, from wealthy countries.

解决气候问题受挫 联合国提出警告
安德鲁 •拉夫金

    一份新的联合国报告警告说，除非发达国家立即开始限制排放引起全球变暖的气体，并帮助较贫穷的国家迅速使用比煤炭和石油污染更少的能源，否则世界上最贫穷地区步向繁荣的进程将有所倒退。
    这份联合国发布的《人类发展年度报告》的作者表示，除了已经得到的援助之外，世界上最贫穷地区还需要更多的援助，以适应已经显现出来的气候变化。报告对气候的关注体现了联合国秘书长潘基文所提出的首要目标：敦促各国领导人对全球变暖问题采取更迅速的行动。
    周二，这份报告在巴西利亚和网址为hdr.undp.org/en/的网站同时发布。报告在今年早些时候联合国政府间气候变化委员会发布的结果的基础上指出，贫穷国家在变暖的环境中将面临巨大的危险。
    报告更为详细地阐明了贫穷如何使一些地区，尤其是赤道附近地区，极其容易受到缺水、干旱、洪水及强烈风暴的侵袭。而且如果温室气体浓度继续增大，这些灾难发生的频率将更频繁，强度将更大。报告同时指责发达国家没有有效地承担《联合国气候变化框架公约》所承诺的责任，帮助贫穷国家提高从气候灾难中恢复的能力。《框架公约》于 1992 年制定，几乎已经得到全世界所有国家的认可。
    周二，一些经济学家和发展导师对这份报告提出了批评。他们称迅速改换其他燃料以代替温室气体主要来源的矿物燃料不仅代价昂贵，而且实际操作还会弄巧成拙，减缓实现全球繁荣的进程，而他们认为这一进程又正是改善环境质量的先决条件。
持这种观点的人称他们关注经济增长及增强抵挡气候巨大变化的能力的另一个原因是，危险性的增加并不仅仅是由于全球变暖，贫穷地区人口的增长也极大地增加了现在遭受气候灾害的人数。
    这份报告还呼应了联合国进行的其他研究结果以及欧盟和许多环境组织的立场：要大力扭转气体排放趋势。许多组织呼吁，到 2050 年，发达国家的温室气体排放量应比 1990 年测得的排放量减少 80%。报告同时指出，发展中国家也应在发达国家的财政和技术支持下，对遏制温室气体排放负一定责任。
——选自《我爱读英文》