Make Coal History(1)
Around the world the mood is shifting. Xi Jinping has adopted a target to cut China’s net carbon emissions to zero by 2060. Under Joe Biden, America will rejoin the Paris agreement, which it adopted five years ago. In the financial markets clean energy firms are all the rage. This month Tesla will join the S&P 500 share index—as one its largest members. 世界各地现状将迎来转变。中国国家领导人习近平通过了一项计划,预计2060年将本国净碳排放量清零;在乔·拜登的领导下,美国也将重新加入五年前就已通过的《巴黎协定》;金融市场上,清洁能源公司掀起一阵热潮;本月,特斯拉将加入标准普尔500指数,成为其中最大企业成员之一。
Remarkably, in a realm where words are cheap, there has been action, too. In America and Europe the consumption of coal, the largest source of greenhouse gases, has fallen by 34% since 2009. The International Energy Agency, an intergovernmental body, reckons that global use will never surpass its pre-covid peak.
值得注意的是,在语言颇显廉价的环境中,行动也在发生。自2009年以来,美国和欧洲两地煤炭消耗量(最大的温室气体排放量)已下降34%。据政府间机构国际能源署(International Energy Agency)估计,全球煤炭使用量绝不会超过新冠疫情前的峰值。
本文选自《经济学人》2020年12月5日刊
【积累表达】
- be all the rage 流行;风靡一时
- the mood情绪;情形(作为首段主旨句,该语境下应取“情形”这一义项)
- net carbon emissions 净碳排放量
- S&P 500 share index标准普尔500指数
- realm 领域;场所;王国
- surpass 超过