【英文原文】

Embrace action on climate, industry told

ndustry should embrace stronger environmental controls, a leading chemicals manufacturer has urged, as ministers from the world's biggest polluting countries meet in London for the final stages of climate change talks that will culminate in Copenhagen in December.

Peter Huntsman, chief executive of Huntsman, a leading US chemicals group, told the Financial Times the US and European Union should act together to raise environmental standards for manufacturing and force global competitors to comply as a condition of access to their markets. “Our industry ought to be out fighting for . . . a higher standard instead of falling to the lowest common denominator,” Mr Huntsman said.

However, his remarks may be seen as protectionist, since any attempt by the US and EU to link environmental controls directly to trade could be seen as a way of excluding competitors in the developing world from the largest western markets. In London Todd Stern, President Barack Obama's special envoy for climate change, said developing countries must do more than they have agreed so far to curb growth of their emissions.

“Where they are right now is almost certainly not enough, if you're talking about getting toward a place that's in the vicinity of holding the temperature increase to 2 degrees [a level which scientists say is the limit of safety],” he said. “It's very important for China to do what they are doing and more than that.”

Public opinion on both sides of the Atlantic is firmly in favour of China taking on the lion's share of cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, according to a Harris poll taken for the Financial Times. At the same time people are lukewarm about providing funds to the developing world to adapt to climate change. But Mr Stern said a deal was still possible in December at the climate change summit in Copenhagen, where countries will try to negotiate a successor to the Kyoto protocol.

“There are difficulties, but not that many elements to put together a basic deal,” he said.

【中文譯文】

工業界應采取更嚴格的環境控制標準，一家領先的化學品制造商呼吁說。目前全球各大污染排放國家的部長們正在倫敦開會，在12月份哥本哈根氣候變化峰會之前進行最后階段的談判。

美國知名化工集團亨斯邁(Huntsman)首席執行官彼得·亨斯邁(Peter Huntsman)對英國《金融時報》說，美國和歐盟應采取共同行動，提高生產制造的環保標準，并將其作為進入歐美市場的條件，迫使全球競爭者遵守這些標準。“我們工業界應該站出來……為更高的標準而努力，而不是退守最低的共同標準，”亨斯邁說。

不過，他的話可能被視為保護主義言論，因為美國和歐盟將環境控制與貿易直接聯系的任何企圖，都可能被視為將發展中國家的競爭對手排除在西方市場以外的手段。美國總統奧巴馬(Barack Obama)的氣候變化問題特使托德·斯特恩(Todd Stern)在倫敦說，發展中國家迄今已經同意的還不夠，它們必須采取更多措施來遏止其排放增長。

“如果說要把氣溫上升控制在2攝氏度左右（科學家認為的安全極限），那幾乎可以肯定的是，發展中國家現在做的還不夠，”他說。“中國現在在做的很重要，在現有基礎上做得更多也很重要。”

哈里斯公司(Harris)為英國《金融時報》進行的民意調查結果表明，大西洋兩岸公眾堅決擁護要求中國在削減溫室氣體排放方面擔負起重大責任。與此同時，對提供資金幫助發展中世界適應氣候變化，人們反應冷淡。不過，斯特恩表示，12月的哥本哈根氣候變化峰會仍然有可能達成協議。各國將努力在該次會議上談判達成《京都議定書》(Kyoto protocol)的后續協議。

“有困難，但要達成一項基本協議并不那么難，”斯特恩說。