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Welcome to European Tribune. It's gone a bit quiet around here these days, but it's still going.
by marco
Fri Feb 5th, 2010 at 05:33:04 AM EST
As a way to practice Mandarin, I had the idea to translate interesting essays by prominent Chinese language bloggers who comment on current affairs and contemporary issues. One such blogger is 薛涌 Xuē Yǒng, whom I discovered a couple of weeks ago listening to an episode of On Point with Tom Ashbrook about "Google vs. China".
Last week Xuē Yǒng wrote 中国要领导"减排世纪" Zhōngguó yào lǐngdǎo "Jiǎnpái Shìjì" ('China Must Lead the "Emissions Reduction Century"'), which he posted on his blog, 反智的书生 Fǎnzhì de Shūshēng (An Anti-Intellectual Scholar), but which I have found reproduced on several other news websites (e.g. 南都周刊 Nándū Zhōukān Southern Metropolis Weekly).
Below is my translation alongside the original Chinese with permission from the author. I opted in favor of sticking close to the meaning of the original even at the cost of fluency in English, so if some points are not easily understandable, please let me know and I will try to clarify. (For some reason, some Chinese characters get corrupted when they are displayed here.)
Mandarin, not spam - afew
中国要领导"减排世纪" | 薛涌 反智的书生 (2010-01-25 22:29:10) | | China Must Lead the Emissions Reduction Century | Xuē Yǒng - An Anti-Intellectual Scholar (2010-01-25 22:29:10) | 本世纪的头十年已经成为历
490;。这十年人类一个重要的进
步,就是在对付地球暖化而%
319;取"减排"(即减少二氧化碳৵
0;放)的问题上达成了共识。 | | The opening ten years of this century are already history. These ten years marked an important step for humankind: the reaching of a consensus on the problem of global warming and measures for "emissions reduction" (i.e. the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions). | 不错,刚刚结束的哥本哈根
615;境峰会成果有限。西方许多
媒体甚至表达的极度的失望A
292;认为此会没有产生什么有意
义的结果。但是,回首过去
313;年我们就能看到:人类在减
排问题上的进步虽然有限,
364;是非常具有实质性的。在本
世纪最初几年,对地球暖化
159;否存在、是否会对人类产生
威胁等等还有着"官方疑问"。
24067;什政府坚持地球暖化说缺ߔ
7;科学证据,也一直拒绝在减
25490;问题上承担责任。中国印ॷ
0;等发展中国家,也基本认为
20943;排主要是发达国家的责任Ӎ
0;如今,奥巴马政府则试图在
20943;排上扮演领导性角色,不ߠ
5;许诺到2020年时减排17%,而且为第三世界国家提供
968;千亿美元的环境援助,使美
国成为减排的强力支持者。
298;纽约时报》甚至称是奥巴马
挽救了几乎破裂的哥本哈根#
848;判。中印等发展中国家,也
越来越意识到自己的责任,
895;意积极参与国际社会在这方
面的努力。现在大家都认定#
201;减排,只是对谁该承担多少
责任有重大争议而已。可以#
828;,人类已经进入了"减排世纪
;"。 | | Yes, the achievements of the recently concluded Copenhagen Climate Change Conference were limited. Many Western media have even expressed extreme disappointment, deeming that this conference did not produce any meaningful result. However, if we look back on the past ten years we can see that while humanity's progress on carbon emissions reduction has been limited, it has nevertheless been substantial. In the first years of the century there were still some "official doubts" about whether global warming existed, whether it posed a threat to humanity, and so on. The Bush administration insisted that talk of global warming lacked scientific evidence and refused throughout to take responsibility on the emissions reduction problem. Developing countries like China, India, etc. also basically considered emissions reduction to be mainly the responsibility of developed countries. Today, the Obama administration is trying to play a leading role in emissions reduction, promising not only a 17% reduction in emissions by 2020, but also the provision of $100 billion in environmental assistance to third world countries, making the U.S. a strong backer of emissions reduction. The New York Times goes so far as to claim that Obama rescued the nearly collapsed negotiations in Copenhagen. China, India and other developing countries are also more and more conscious of their own responsibility and willing to participate actively in the international community's efforts on this front. Nowadays everyone has recognized the need for reducing emissions; it's just that there is major dispute about who should bear how much responsibility. One can say that humanity has entered the "emissions reduction century". | 中国虽然还是个发展中国家A
292;但无疑已经是世界大国,并
正在超越美国、成为世界第
968;排放大国。在减排问题上,
中国必须成为"减排"的世界领
34966;。 | | Although China is still a developing country, there is no doubt that it is already a major power, and is now surpassing the United States to be number one in the world in carbon emissions. China must become a world leader in emissions reduction. | 为什么这么说?我们不妨看
968;看中国在"减排"问题上复杂
0;国际责任。 | | Why is this so? Let's look at China's complicated international responsibility with respect to "emissions reduction". | 第一,从道义上说,解决地球暖化&
382;题,发达国家必须承担主要
责任。这不仅因为发达国家
855;有经济实力和技术手段,更
因为地球暖化是多年工业化
215;累的结果。这一工业化进程
,在本世纪前完全是发达国
478;唱主角。换句话说,如今的
地球暖化,是过去二百多年
457;达国家向大气倾倒垃圾的所
造成的。如今清理垃圾的责
219;,倾倒者不负责谁负责? | | 1. Morally, developed countries must accept the main responsibility in solving the global warming problem. This is not only because they have the most economic strength and technological means, but moreso because global warming is the result of the accumulation of years of industrialization. Until the present century, developed countries have been the protagonists in this process of industrialization. In other words, the global warming that is taking place today is the outcome of developed countries' dumping trash into the atmosphere for over two hundred years. Who is responsible for cleaning up this trash today if not the litterbugs themselves? | 第二,即使发达国家承担了责任,
457;展中国家不参与,减排也不
可能。要知道,虽然发达国
478;要为过去负责,但展望未来
,发达国家的排放将基本停
490;增长,并逐渐减少。未来对
大气二氧化碳排放的增长部
998;,主要来自发展中国家。中
国、印度、巴西等国,是增
490;的主力。 | | 2. Even if developed countries accept their responsibility, if developing countries do not also participate, emissions reduction will not be possible. It must be understood that while developed countries must accept their responsibility for the past, looking into the future, emissions in developed countres will basically stop increasing, and will even gradually taper off. Future carbon emissions growth will mainly come from developing countries. China, India, Brazil, etc. will be the main contingent of these growing ranks. | 第三,在减排问题上,发达国家负
377;最大的道义责任,但发展中
国家则有最大的利益。伦敦
463;济学院Nicholas Stern 受英国政府之邀对减排的经
982;影响的估计,属于目前最为
全面的文献。其中的一个结#
770;是:如果不立即采取减排措
施,大气暖化所造成的经济
439;失,首先打击的是发展中国
家,发达国家则是最后受害
340;。道理很简单:对不减排所
造成的初期环境损失,发达
269;家已经有比较好的防范。比
如污染,在西方国家基本上
471;到了控制,空气和水的清洁
度都在好转之中。但是,象
013;国这样的发展中国家,环境
威胁则越来越大。特别是中
269;的人口比美国密集数倍,对
同样的排放量,中国要支付
340;健康大家要高得多。如果不
加控制,污染将摧毁中国人
340;健康,并给经济背上巨大的
医疗负担。另外,美国对石
833;进口的依赖,实际上比中国
弱得多。美国全球布武,从
013;东到西非,从加拿大到南美
,有着多元的石油供应,自
049;的沿海也有大量的石油储量
,在危机时刻更容易挺过去
290;与此相对,中国的进口石油
,主要还是通过马六甲海峡$
825;种自己无法控制的海域,能
源安全非常脆弱。即使到了
320;球暖化的中后期,面对气温
上升、海平面升高等等现象A
292;发达国家也有较为充裕的资
源应对。特别是美国,地理
978;占据了巨大优势。美国发达
地区虽然也在沿海,但内陆
452;居的土地广阔,经济中心相
对比较分散,较能抵御海平&
754;上升引起的危机。欧洲十年
前就指责美国凭借这样的地
702;优势坐壁上观、让欧洲日本
读担抑制地球暖化的大任。
431;洲在没有美国参与的情况下
单方面减排,也是有其自身
043;需。今天的中国应该看到欧
洲人十多年前就看到的东西
290;中国的经济中心,则过分集
中在沿海一带。特别是长江
977;角洲、珠江三角洲地区,在
海平面上升面前几乎无法据
432;。沿海地带一旦失守,内陆
则很难有发展的空间。 | | 3. While developed countries bear the greatest moral responsibility for carrying it out, reducing emissions is in the greatest interest of developing countries. The British government asked Nicholas Stern of the London School of Economics to calculate the economic impact of emissions reduction, which work at present is among the most comprehensive literature. One of its conclusions: If emissions reduction measures are not taken immediately, economic losses caused by atmospheric warming will hit developing countries first and hurt developed countries the last. The reason is simple: Developed countries already have pretty good protections against the initial environmental damage that was caused by not reducing emissions. For example, pollution largely has been brought under control in developed countries, and air and water cleanliness are all being improved. Nevertheless, in countries in the midst of development like China, environmental threats are getting bigger and bigger. In particular, China's population is several times denser than the U.S.'s, so for the same amount of emissions, China has to pay a much higher health cost. If we do not control pollution, it will ravage the health of Chinese people, and will add enormous burdens of medical care to the economy. Moreover, the U.S.'s dependence on imported oil is in fact much less than China's. With its diversified supply of petroleum stretching worldwide from the Middle East to western Africa, from Canada to South America, as well as large quantities of reserves on its own coasts, the U.S. can more easily withstand moments of crisis. In contrast, since China's petroleum imports mainly go through the Strait of Malacca, open waters that are beyond its control, its energy security is extremely weak. Even though we've reached a mid-late stage of global warming, developed countries also have abundant resources with which to respond to such phenomena as increasing temperatures, the rising sea level, and so on. The United States especially has established a huge geographic advantage. Although the developed regions of the United States are in coastal areas, the vast livable territory inland, with its relatively dispersed economic centers, is quite able to resist the crisis of the rising sea level. Ten years ago Europe was faulting the U.S. for looking on from this advantageous geographical situation, placing the major responsibility to fight global warming on Europe and Japan. Given the United States' lack of participation, Europe reduced emissions unilaterally, and they had their own reasons to. Today's Chinese should take a look at what Europeans were saying more than ten years ago. China's economic center is overly congested in the coastal region. The Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta regions especially are almost impossible to defend in the face of the rising sea level. Should the seaboard be lost, it will be hard to find space for development inland. | 基于这些理由,发达国家对
943;排承担有最大的道义责任,
中国则有最大的利益。从中
269;的利益出发,世界各国减排
力度越大越好。中国需要说
381;发达国家带头承担起自己的
责任。但同时也应该认识到A
292;不能一味等着发达国家承担
责任。毕竟,从利益上说,
154;家比我们等得起。所以,在
减排的问题上,中国不能象$
807;去那样被世界推着走,而要
站出来拉着世界走。 | | Based on these reasons, developed countries bear the greatest moral responsibility for undertaking emissions reductions, but it is in China's greatest interest to do so. Looking at it from the perspective of China's interests, the greater the effort of all countries in reducing emissions, the better. China needs to persuade developed countries to take the lead in accepting their own responsibility. However, at the same time, it must realize that that it cannot blindly wait for developed countries to take that responsibility. After all, from a self-interest point of view, they can afford to wait longer than we can. Therefore, on the problem of emissions reduction, China cannot be shoved along by the world as in the past, but must stand up and pull the world ahead. |
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