A sobering report released on Monday by the International Energy Agency says air pollution has become a major public health crisis leading to around 6.5 million deaths each year, with “many of its root causes and cures” found in the energy industry.
国际能源署(International Energy Agency,简称IEA)周一发布了一份发人深思的报告,称大气污染已经成了一场重大的公共卫生危机,每年导致约650万人死亡,并表示在能源行业找到了大气污染的“很多根本原因和解决办法”。
The air pollution study is the first for the agency, an energy security group based in Paris, which is expanding its mission under its executive director, Fatih Birol.
这是总部设在巴黎的该能源安全机构首次研究大气污染。在署长法提赫·比罗尔(Fatih Birol)的带领下,国际能源署正在扩大自己的任务范围。
The agency, whose 29 members are wealthy, industrialized countries, was founded in response to the Arab oil embargo1 in 1973 to coordinate2 international responses to energy issues. It is perhaps best known for its monthly oil market reports that are eagerly awaited by traders.
1973年,因为阿拉伯产油国实行石油禁运,国际能源署得到创立,旨在协调国际社会应对能源问题的行动。国际能源署的成员为29个富裕的工业化国家,其最著名的行动或许是每月发布一次的石油市场报告。该报告备受交易员的关注。
Mr. Birol, an economist3, argues that pressing concerns about climate change and the emergence4 of countries like China and India as major energy consumers and polluters mean that the agency needs to shift its strategy.
身为经济学家的比罗尔认为,有关气候变化的紧迫问题,以及中国和印度等国成为主要的能源消耗国和污染国,意味着国际能源署须调整战略。
“To stay relevant,” he said in an interview on Friday, we “need to work much closer with new emerging energy economies.”
“要想继续发挥重要作用,”他周五接受采访时表示,我们“需要与新兴能源经济体更密切地合作”。
Mr. Birol has been working to build bridges with China in particular, which energy experts say is crucial to the success of global efforts to reduce emissions5.
比罗尔一直在努力建立与中国的联系。能源专家称,中国对全球减排行动的成功至关重要。
“To solve today’s biggest energy problems, the I.E.A. needs to have the world’s most important energy players as part of it,” said Jason Bordoff, director of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University.
“要解决当今最大的能源问题,IEA需要让全球最重要的能源市场主体参与进来,”哥伦比亚大学全球能源政策中心(Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University)主任贾森·博尔多夫(Jason Bordoff)说。
Environmental issues, Mr. Birol said, are very important to emerging economies like India and China, whose cities are often plagued by choking smog.
比罗尔表示,环境问题对印度和中国等新兴经济体非常重要,这些国家的城市经常笼罩着令人窒息的雾霾。
Helping6 these countries solve problems through increasing energy efficiency or filtering out pollutants7 can make progress on climate change goals. We need to make these countries “understand that their problems are our problems,” Mr. Birol said.
帮助这些国家通过提高能源效率或过滤掉污染物的方式解决问题,有助于在气候变化目标上取得进展。比罗尔说,我们需要让这些国家“明白,它们的问题就是我们的问题”。
Mr. Birol appears to be well-suited to this approach. Born in Turkey, he obtained his doctorate8 in energy economics in Vienna and began his career as an analyst9 at the Organization of the Petroleum10 Exporting Countries, the oil producers’ group, often seen as having an agenda rivaling the agency’s.
比罗尔似乎与这种处事方式非常合契。他出生于土耳其,在维也纳取得能源经济学博士学位后在产油国组成的石油输出国组织(Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries)担任分析师,开始了自己的职业生涯。石油输出国组织的议程,通常被认为与国际能源署的相悖。
Mr. Birol appears to be pushing to make the agency crucial in coordinating11 a global approach to energy-related efforts. This includes carrying out the global emissions reduction agreement reached in Paris last year. “The world needs a global energy body,” said Neil Hirst, a senior policy fellow at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College in London.
比罗尔似乎正在推动国际能源署在协调以一种全球性的方式开展能源相关行动上发挥重要作用。这包括执行去年在巴黎达成的全球减排协议。“世界需要一个全球性的能源机构,”伦敦帝国学院格兰瑟姆研究所(Grantham Institute at Imperial College)高级政策研究员尼尔·赫斯特(Neil Hirst)说。
Mr. Birol said that through relatively12 low-cost actions, like adopting more ambitious clean air standards and more effective policies for monitoring and enforcement, countries could make major strides in reducing pollution over the next quarter-century.
比罗尔表示,在接下来的四分之一世纪里,通过成本相对较低的行动,如采用更有魄力的清洁空气标准和更有效的监督与执法政策,相关国家可在减少污染方面取得重大进展。
China, for instance, needs to retire polluting coal-fired power plants and to establish stricter standards for motor vehicles.
比如,中国须关停煤电厂,并建立更严格的机动车标准。
Such changes could produce big benefits. In India, the proportion of the population exposed to a high concentration of fine particles, a type of pollution, would fall to below 20 percent in 2040, from 60 percent today. In China, it would drop to below one quarter, from well over one half.
这类改革可能会带来巨大的好处。到2040年,印度接触高浓度细颗粒物这种污染的人口比例,将从现在的60%下降至20%以下。在中国,这个比例将从现在的远超一半下降至不到四分之一。
1 embargo [ɪmˈbɑ:gəʊ] 第8级 | |
n.禁运(令);vt.对...实行禁运,禁止(通商) | |
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2 coordinate [kəʊ'ɔ:dɪneɪt] 第7级 | |
adj.同等的,协调的;n.同等者;vt.协作,协调 | |
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3 economist [ɪˈkɒnəmɪst] 第8级 | |
n.经济学家,经济专家,节俭的人 | |
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4 emergence [ɪ'mɜ:dʒəns] 第8级 | |
n.浮现,显现,出现,(植物)突出体 | |
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5 emissions [ɪˈmɪʃənz] 第7级 | |
排放物( emission的名词复数 ); 散发物(尤指气体) | |
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6 helping [ˈhelpɪŋ] 第7级 | |
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的 | |
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7 pollutants [pə'lu:tənts] 第8级 | |
污染物质(尤指工业废物)( pollutant的名词复数 ) | |
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8 doctorate [ˈdɒktərət] 第7级 | |
n.(大学授予的)博士学位 | |
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9 analyst [ˈænəlɪst] 第9级 | |
n.分析家,化验员;心理分析学家 | |
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10 petroleum [pəˈtrəʊliəm] 第7级 | |
n.原油,石油 | |
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11 coordinating [kəuˈɔ:dineitɪŋ] 第7级 | |
v.使协调,使调和( coordinate的现在分词 );协调;协同;成为同等 | |
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12 relatively [ˈrelətɪvli] 第8级 | |
adv.比较...地,相对地 | |
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