【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.

【中文译文】

工业界应采取更严格的环境控制标准，一家领先的化学品制造商呼吁说。目前全球各大污染排放国家的部长们正在伦敦开会，在12月份哥本哈根气候变化峰会之前进行最后阶段的谈判。

美国知名化工集团亨斯迈(Huntsman)首席执行官彼得·亨斯迈(Peter Huntsman)对英国《金融时报》说，美国和欧盟应采取共同行动，提高生产制造的环保标准，并将其作为进入欧美市场的条件，迫使全球竞争者遵守这些标准。“我们工业界应该站出来……为更高的标准而努力，而不是退守最低的共同标准，”亨斯迈说。

不过，他的话可能被视为保护主义言论，因为美国和欧盟将环境控制与贸易直接联系的任何企图，都可能被视为将发展中国家的竞争对手排除在西方市场以外的手段。美国总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)的气候变化问题特使托德·斯特恩(Todd Stern)在伦敦说，发展中国家迄今已经同意的还不够，它们必须采取更多措施来遏止其排放增长。

“如果说要把气温上升控制在2摄氏度左右（科学家认为的安全极限），那几乎可以肯定的是，发展中国家现在做的还不够，”他说。“中国现在在做的很重要，在现有基础上做得更多也很重要。”

哈里斯公司(Harris)为英国《金融时报》进行的民意调查结果表明，大西洋两岸公众坚决拥护要求中国在削减温室气体排放方面担负起重大责任。与此同时，对提供资金帮助发展中世界适应气候变化，人们反应冷淡。不过，斯特恩表示，12月的哥本哈根气候变化峰会仍然有可能达成协议。各国将努力在该次会议上谈判达成《京都议定书》(Kyoto protocol)的后续协议。

“有困难，但要达成一项基本协议并不那么难，”斯特恩说。