双语新闻：巴厘岛开会大家想凉快(图)

　　The final hours of the Bali conference on climate change might have been scripted in Hollywood. The tension mounted between America and its allies on the one hand, and Europe and its allies on the other. The deadline for agreement passed, and had to be extended. The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, begged for compromise. One of the American delegates, Paula Dobriansky, was booed. Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and boss of the conference, wept, and had to be helped off-stage. The situation was deadlocked; the planet doomed.

　　Who would save it? The little guy, of course: Kevin Conrad, a (conveniently handsome) delegate from Papua New Guinea, a poor but beautiful country condemned to sink beneath the waves unless the big powers act. He leant towards his microphone. “If for some reason you are not willing to lead,” he said, referring to an arrogant comment on leadership by one of the American delegates, “leave it to the rest of us. Please—get out of the way.” The applause was thunderous. Minutes later, Ms Dobriansky crumpled. “We will go forward and join consensus,” she said. There were sighs of relief and gasps of elation. The planet was saved. It was, everybody agreed, an historic agreement.

　　Sadly, the substance did not remotely match the storyline. The only real achievement at Bali was a decision to set up a pilot project to investigate how to stop tropical deforestation. Aside from that, the conference, with 15,000 delegates, activists and journalists, cost a great deal in money, carbon and political energy and produced nothing but a vapid statement of good intentions, from which America ensured that all substance was removed. An international agreement to replace the Kyoto protocol, which runs out in 2012, does need to be reached. But negotiations will get nowhere until 2009, when this American administration will probably make way for one that takes climate change seriously.

　　The glacial pace of progress towards a global agreement contrasts with what is happening in Europe. After a row last year with carmakers, which had failed to meet voluntary emissions targets, the European Commission is about to force them to limit the carbon intensity of their fleets. Europe is particularly hard on its car industry; but other countries are picking on road transport. China has imposed fuel-economy regulations, and America's Congress has just approved a bill tightening its own. By 2020 California will require all the petrol sold there to meet a low-carbon standard.

　　在巴厘岛召开的有关气候变化会议的最后时刻也许可以被改编为好莱坞大片了。美国和它的盟友为一方面，欧洲和它的盟友为另一面，双方的紧张关系不断上升。协议的最后期限过了，但又被延期。联合国秘书长潘基文祈求双方妥协。一名美国代表葆拉·多布林斯基遭到了讥笑。《联合国气候变化框架公约》的执行秘书和本次会议的主持伊夫·德·波尔哭了，在别人的帮助下才离开了讲台。僵持局面出现了，地球末日来到了。

　　谁能挽救僵局？当然是那位小个的、得体而英俊的凯文·康纳德。他是巴布亚-新几内亚的代表。巴布亚-新几内亚是一个贫穷而美丽的国家，曾被宣判为将沉入水下，除非大国采取行动。针对一名美国代表有关领导地位的傲慢发言，他倾斜着身子，靠向麦克风说：“如果出于某些原因，你们不愿意带头，那就把领导地位留给我们中其余的人。请让开道。”他的话赢得了雷鸣般的掌声。几分钟后，多布林斯基小姐神色沮丧地说：“我们愿意向前走并加入协议。” 有人发出如释重负的叹息声，有人发出兴奋的喘息声。地球得救了。这是一个所有人都同意的历史性的协议。

　　令人悲哀的是内容和故事情节大相径庭。在巴厘岛真正取得的成就是确立了一个试验性项目以研究如何阻止热带雨林消失的决定。除此以外，这次有着15000人参加的会议耗费了大量的金钱、文件副本和政治能量，产生的不过是一纸空洞的友好意向的声明。而美国还保证将从其中删除所有的实质性内容。随着《京都议定书》在2012年的到期，必须达成一项国际协议来替代它。但是，谈判在2009年以前不会有任何进展。到那时也许现在的美国政府会被一个严肃对待气候变化的美国政府所替代。

　　达成全球协议方面的步履艰难与欧洲正在发生的情况形成鲜明的对比。去年和汽车制造商争吵了一通而没有达成自愿减排目标后，欧洲委员会即将迫使汽车制造商限制他们生产的汽车二氧化碳的排放强度。欧洲对汽车工业特别强硬；而其他国家也在加强对道路运输的管理。中国已经执行了节能规定，而美国国会才刚刚通过一项法案，强化节能规定。到2020年，加利福尼亚将要求所有出售的汽油达到一个低碳标准。