巴黎气候谈判仍面临重大分歧

The EU has criticised the glacial pace of UN negotiations on a global deal to combat climate change due to be signed in Paris this year, in a sign of the growing unease among some countries about the eventual outcome of the agreement.

欧盟(EU)批评联合国(UN)为达成全球气候变化协议的协商进程过于缓慢，这表明一些国家对最终可能形成的协议日益感到不安。各方计划今年12月在巴黎签署新气候协议。

“Time is of the essence here,” said Ilze Pruse, a senior EU delegate, as a week of talks ended in Geneva where representatives from more than 190 nations produced an official negotiating text for the Paris pact, due to be signed in December.

190多个国家的代表在日内瓦举行了为期一周的会谈，会上产生了巴黎气候协议的正式谈判文本。“时间已经十分紧迫，”欧盟高级代表伊尔泽•普鲁谢(Ilze Pruse)在会后说。

The draft document ballooned from fewer than 40 pages to 86 pages during the week and is full of what Ms Pruse said were repetitive options that could have been easily trimmed before envoys knuckle down to the far harder task of deciding what may actually stay in the agreement at their next scheduled negotiating session in Bonn in June.

在日内瓦会谈中，草案文件的篇幅从原本的不到40页增加到86页。普鲁谢认为，文本中存在许多重复的内容，在下一次会谈时，这些很轻易就会被删减。代表们预定今年6月在波恩举行下次会谈，着手处理一个难度大得多的任务——决定协议中应该保留哪些内容。

The Paris deal, if agreed, will be the first in more than 20 years of UN climate negotiations to require all countries, rich and poor, to do something to stem the rising greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say are warming the atmosphere, raising sea levels and fomenting more ferocious weather.

巴黎气候协议一旦达成，将是联合国气候协商进程20多年来，首次要求所有国家，不论贫富，均需采取行动遏制不断上升的温室气体排放。科学家们表示，温室气体排放正在导致大气升温、海平面上升，以及极端天气现象增多。

It would effectively replace the 1997 Kyoto protocol, an international climate treaty that requires wealthy countries to cut their emissions but not nations then classed as developing, such as China, which is now the world’s biggest carbon polluter.

它将有效地取代1997年签署的《京都议定书》，该条约只要求富国减排，对当时被界定为发展中的国家则不作要求，比如现在已经是世界最大碳排放国的中国。

While the Geneva meeting was only supposed to come up with an official negotiating text for the Paris pact, informal talks during the week revealed that a vast array of differences remain between countries over what the final agreement should look like.

尽管日内瓦会议的目的只是为巴黎协议形成一份正式谈判文本，会议期间的非正式会谈却表明，各国对最终协议的内容还存在大量分歧。

“There remain deep and longstanding divisions on key issues,” said Alden Meyer of the US-based Union of Concerned Scientists.

“在关键问题上还存在着各种深刻、长期以来就一直存在的分歧，”总部在美国的忧思科学家联盟(Union of Concerned Scientists)的奥尔登•迈耶(Alden Meyer)表示。

Small island states most at risk from rising sea levels are among those demanding the deal should include a firm date some time this century, perhaps as soon as 2050, for phasing out man-made emissions, the bulk of which come from burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas.

海平面上升对小岛国家最为不利，这些国家和其它一些国家一起，要求协议为逐步停止人为排放温室气体设定一个本世纪内的确定时限，比如2050年。人为排放的很大一部分来自于燃烧煤、石油和天然气等化石燃料。

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia and many other countries that do not rely as heavily on fossil fuel exports for their national income say this date is completely unrealistic and even later deadlines could be difficult.

石油大国沙特阿拉伯以及许多不那么依赖化石燃料出口的国家则表示，这一期限根本就不切实际，即使是再晚一些的期限，要达成目标也十分困难。

The EU and many middle-income countries insist that whatever emissions targets are eventually pledged by countries as part of the agreement, they should be made as legally binding as possible, a position other countries are uneasy about.

欧盟及许多中等收入国家坚持认为，无论各方最终在协议中达成何种排放目标，都应该尽可能使这些目标具有法律约束力。这种立场让其他国家感到不安。

Meanwhile, the question of how much responsibility which developed versus developing countries should bear — and pay — for lowering emissions hangs over the whole agreement. The US and many others say 20-year-old divisions between rich and poor nations enshrined in earlier UN agreements cannot be maintained in Paris.

与此同时，关于发达国家和发展中国家应该分别承担多少减排责任——以及分担多少经费——的问题，困扰着整个协商进程。美国及其他许多国家称，早前联合国协议中存在了20年的富国与穷国的差别待遇，不能继续保留在巴黎协议中。

With so many disagreements to be resolved, some countries are concerned that the final Paris deal may be far too weak to accomplish the emissions cuts that scientists say are necessary to ward off potentially dangerous changes in the climate.

等待解决的分歧如此之多，使得一些国家担心最终的巴黎协议可能会缺乏力度，以至于无法完成必要的减排。科学家称，为了避免出现潜在的危险气候变化，减排必须达到一定规模。

French climate envoy, Laurence Tubiana, said this was why it was crucial for the Paris pact to produce a system of long-lasting and increasing global action on climate change.

法国气候问题特使洛朗斯•蒂比亚纳(Laurence Tubiana)称，正是出于这个原因，巴黎协议必须产生一项系统性的持久并逐步加强的全球应对气候变化行动。

“We have to embed in the agreement an upscaling spiral of more actions,” she said.

“我们应该在协议中规定要采取更多的逐步升级的行动，”她称。

While the EU was frustrated by the slow pace of progress in Geneva, Christiana Figueres, head of the Bonn-based UN secretariat that helps manage the talks, said the week had offered an invaluable opportunity for all delegates to meet and understand each other’s positions better before they start tougher negotiations in Bonn in June.

尽管欧盟对日内瓦会谈进展缓慢感到失望，波恩帮助协调会谈的联合国秘书处的负责人克里斯蒂娜•菲格雷斯(Christiana Figueres)称，本周为所有代表提供了一次宝贵的机会，让他们6月在波恩开始更艰难的谈判前，更好地理解彼此立场。

“Of course, the downside is that in June they do have 86 pages to deal with and that is an added challenge,” she said.

“当然，不利的一面是他们6月要应付86页的协议内容，这是一项额外挑战，”她称。

Climate campaigners, who often loudly criticise UN negotiations for being too slow and out of touch with the public’s desire for greater climate action, were unusually positive about the meeting.

经常公开批评联合国谈判进程缓慢、与公众希望采取更多气候应对措施的诉求脱节的气候活动家，此次却对会议持乐观态度。

“Yes, the text has grown but it was always going to grow,” said Julie-Anne Richards of the Climate Action Network, adding it was much more important that countries had agreed relatively swiftly and harmoniously on what such a complicated document could look like.

“的确，文本内容是增加了，不过它总是要增加的，”气候行动网(Climate Action Network)的朱莉-安妮•理查兹称。她说，更为重要的是，各国相对快速、和谐地就这样一个看起来可能十分复杂的文本达成了一致。

Meanwhile, countries around the world are preparing to formally publish their emissions reduction targets ahead of the Paris meeting, with the EU, the US and others expected to divulge them before the end of March.

另外，世界各国正准备在巴黎会议前正式公布各自的减排目标，欧盟、美国等预计在3月底前公布。