【英语闲聊】碳达峰?碳中和?碳交易?一“碳”究竟!

大家好，我是Blair~【闲聊系列】突如其来的更新！这次来聊聊持续了一整年并且注定会继续被热议的话题——“碳”。碳中和、碳达峰要怎样用英语解释？其他国家的目标设定及完成情况如何？去年刚刚开启的国家碳排放权交易市场以怎样的机制运行？与欧洲碳市场相比有何不同？去年11月在格拉斯哥召开的COP26又是怎么回事？老样子，重点词汇、参考阅读、逐字稿都整理在后面，大家自取~闲聊音频也挂在了播客平台小宇宙、喜马拉雅和网易云音乐，搜索频道Blairfully即可，习惯听播客的朋友快去订阅啦！

Keywordsandphrases

peakcarbonemission碳达峰

carbonneutrality碳中和

nationalcarbonemissionstradingmarket全国碳排放权交易市场

scale-up按比例放大

energytransition能源转型

climatediplomacy气候外交

carbon-pricingmechanism碳定价机制

carbon-intensivesectors高碳行业

cap-and-trade（总量）限额交易

emissionsintensity排放强度

self-policed自我监督

legallybinding有法律约束力

phase-out逐渐停止

phase-down逐步减少

ReferenceCaixin：In-Depth:China’sLaunchofWorld’sLargestCarbonMarketHasaSputteringStartTheDiplomat:IntroducingChina’sCarbonMarket-WhattoknowaboutBeijing’slateststeptocombatclimatechange.Caixin:China’sLaunchofWorld’sLargestCarbonMarketHasaSputteringStartCarbonMarketWatch:Carbonmarkets101THEULTIMATEGUIDETOGLOBALOFFSETTINGMECHANISMSAPNews:Chinastickstogoalofhavingcarbonemissionspeakby203《三联生活周刊》谢九-碳交易如何实现减排《光明日报》碳达峰、碳中和，这些国际经验可借鉴卡内基梅隆大学-哈佛气候协议项目报告《中国碳排放权交易制度：历史、现状与展望》TranscriptThetwocarbontargets/pledges双碳目标LastSeptember,PresidentXiannouncedattheUNGeneralAssemblythatChinawouldaimtopeakitscarbondioxide(CO2)emissionsbefore2030andreachcarbonneutralityby2060.Thisisofcourseverynecessaryforourdomesticsustainabledevelopment,anditisalsosomewhatobligatory,causeChinasignedtheParisAgreement,inwhichwepromisetodoourbesttoreachthesetwotargets.Let'sgivethese2targetsacloserlook.AccordingtotheWorldResourcesInstitute,Peakingemissionsmeanemissionsreachaspecificmaximumlevelbyaspecificdatebeforedecliningafterward.Forme,thisdefinitionisnotreallysatisfying,Imeanwhatisthecalculationmethodology?Howdoyoudetermineifitisanactualpeakorjustatemporarydecline?Iliterallyspentawholemorninggoogling"carbonpeakdefinition""peakemissionexplanation""whatdoespeakcarbonemissionmeans"...andIdidn'tgetwhatIwant,almostallanalysisstartswith“topeakcarbonemission,blablabla"...theyneverbothertodefinewhatitmeansby"carbonpeak".Ijustfeellikethereshouldbeaclearerexplanation,whatdoyouguysthink?Butanyway,nomatterwhatkindofmethodologyweuse.Peakingemissionsisdefinitelycriticaltodeterminingtheglobalemissionstrajectorytimelineandambition.Scientistsarguethat,ifglobalwarmingistobelimitedtobetween1.5Cand2Cby2100,globalemissionsmustpeakbefore2020andthenbegintorapidlydecline.Apparently,wearewaypastthatdeadline.Butthegoodnewsis,thereareabout50countriesthathavealreadypeakedcarbonemissions,accountingfor40%oftotalglobalemissions,mostofwhicharedevelopedcountries.EUasawholehaspeakedinthe1990sandtheUSin2007.Inthetop15emissionlist,Russia,Japan,Brazil,Indonesia,Germany,Canada,Korea,theUKhavealsoreachedtheirpeaks.Mostpeople,includingpolicymakersandscientists,arequitepositiveaboutChina's2030peakingtarget,themorechallengingtargetisthe2060carbonneutralityone.Carbonneutralityisastateofnet-zerocarbondioxideemissions.Itmeanscuttingasmuchofthecarbondioxideemissionsaspossibleandthenoffsettingwhatyoucan'teliminate.Foracountry,thiscouldmeanswitchingtorenewableenergysuchassolarpowerinsteadofcoalandinvestinginprojectsthatabsorbcarbondioxide,suchasreforestation.Carbonneutral,ornet-zero,isourendgoal,onlybyachievingthiscanwerealizethetransitiontothe"post-carboneconomy".Asthelargestemitter,ourtotalemissionaccountsforathirdoftheglobaltotalemission,morethanthesumoftheUSandtheEU.Fromadomesticperspective,Chinawillhavetoscaleuprenewablesdramaticallywhileinvestinginthepowersectorandthetechnologiesunderpinningtheenergytransition.Internationally,theunilateralpledgeishugelyimportantingeneratingglobalmomentumtowardstrongerglobalclimateambitionandgovernance,butalsoinpositioningChinaasaleaderinclimatediplomacy.Consideringourpopulation,ourphaseofdevelopment,andthestatusquoofourenergystructure,I'msureyoucouldseethechallengehere.Whatareothercountriesdoinginthisregard?Howaretheyperforming?Turnsoutmanyothercountrieshavealsoreleasedtheircarbonneutralitytimeschedule,forexample,ourneighborJapan,Korea,theEU,andtheUSsetitat2050,andIndia,anothersignificantlylargeemitter,setthetargetat2070.Nowweknowthegoals,howarewegoingtoachievethem?Oneofthesolutionswouldbe——market!Nationalcarbonemissionstradingmarket全国碳排放权交易市场LastJuly,Chinaannouncedthelaunchofitsnationalcarbonemissionstradingmarket.Astheworld’slargestgreenhousegasemitter,thisisasignificantsteptowardsourclimategoals.Themarketwasfirstproposedadecadeago,andthecurrentversionisfarmorelimitedinitsscopethanoriginallyintended,sowecouldunderstanditasmoreofaninitialsteptowarddeepeningitscommitmenttoaddressingclimatechange.Suchcarbon-pricingmechanismsexistinaround45countriesalready,butChina'sschemeistheworld'sbiggest.Oursystemisknownasthetradableperformancestandard(TPS).ItisexpectedtocontributeapproximatelyhalfofChina’sCO2emissionsreductionsby2060.Currently,theTPScoversonlyChina'spowersectorbutoncefullyimplementeditwillembraceeightcarbon-intensivesectors.WhatmakesTPSdifferentfromthoseoperatinginothercountriesandregions,suchastheEuropeanUnion,Canada,andArgentina,isthatwehavechosendifferentcriteria.Othernationshavetendedtoemploymass-basedsystems,inwhichcompliancedependsonkeepingtheabsolutelevelofemissionsbelowsomevalue–cap-and-tradeisoneexample.WhileChina'ssystemisintensity-based:afacility'scompliancedependsonitsemissionsintensity–inotherwords,thefacility'semissions-outputratio–shouldnotexceedabenchmarkratiosetbythegovernment.TheTPSisacriticalpartofChina'sefforttoaddressclimatechange.Thisnewpolicycommitmentholdsgreatpromise,butmuchremainsuncertainaboutitsfutureevolution.Still,thisnationwideeffortisamajorstepforwardinChina’scommitmenttoagreeneconomicfuture.Nowwegotapictureofthedomesticsituation,let'shavealookattheinternationalcommunity,whathappenedattheCOP26Glasgowsummit?COP26Glasgowsummit格拉斯哥气候大会COP26wasthemomentcountriesrevisitedclimatepledgesmadeunderthe2015ParisAgreementsevenyearsago,countrieswereaskedtomakechangestokeepglobalwarming"wellbelow"2C.Thefinalgoalistokeepcuttingemissionsuntiltheyreachnet-zerobymid-century.COPstandsfor"ConferenceoftheParties",andtheoneinGlasgowwasthe26thannualsummit.RightbeforeCOP26washeld,200countrieswereaskedfortheirplanstocutemissionsby2030.andnowyouknowChina'sanswertothis,istopeakcarbonemissionby2030.NotethatmostcommitmentsmadeatCOPwillhavetobeself-policed.Onlyafewcountriesaremakingtheirpledgeslegallybinding.TheGlasgowsummitmarkedamajormomentforglobalaction—itwasthefirsttimenationsupdatedtheirplanstolimitemissionssincethehistoricParisagreementin2015.Generally,countrieshaveagreedtoreleasenewplans,knownas"nationallydeterminedcontributions,"every5years.OneofthepleasantsurprisesofCOP26isthattheU.S.andChinaagreedtoworktogetherto"strengthenandaccelerateclimateactionandcooperation"inthenearterm.It'sthefirsttimeChinaandtheUnitedStates,—thetwobiggestemittersintheworld—havestoodupandsaid,'We'regoingtoworktogethertoacceleratethereduction.'Solet'swaitandseeifthetwocountrieswillhavefurtherclimatecooperationinthefuture.Iforone,thinkitwillbeextremelydifficult.OnemajorresultofCOP26isreachingaglobalagreement,whichiscalledtheGlasgowpledges.Thisagreement-althoughnotlegallybinding-willsettheglobalagendaonclimatechangeforthenextdecade.Butasyoumayknow,addedtogether,thepledgeswillstillnotreduceemissionsfastenoughtokeeptheworldwithinthecruciallimitof1.5degreesCelsiusby2100,asagreedtointheParisclimatetalks.Instead,theworldwouldbeontrackfor1.8degreesCelsiusofwarming,accordingtoananalysisfromtheInternationalEnergyAgency.1.8degreesCelsiusisanimprovementoverthepreviouspledges.Butitdependsentirelyoncountriesfollowingthroughontheirpromises,andmanyhaveprovidedveryfewconcretedetails.Evenwithpastcommitments,manygovernmentshaven'tbackedupwordswithactions.Basedonwhatcountriesarecurrentlydoingontheground,theworldisheadedtoward2.7degreesCelsiusofwarming,oralmost5degreesFahrenheit.OnelastthingaboutCOP26:oneofthecriticalarticlesofthefinalGlasgowpledgesisto"phaseoutfossilfuels..."Inalast-minutemove,Indiasoughttofurtherweakenthewordingbychangingthe"phase-out"ofcoalto"phase-down."Othercountries,exhaustedfromroundsandroundsofnegotiations,reluctantlyconcededinordertopreventtheentireagreementfromfallingapart.Nicelyplayed,India.OK,that'saboutit!Inthisepisode,wetalkedaboutcarbonpeak,carbonneutrality,carbontradingmarket,andCOP26,ifyouhappentobepreparingforCET-4/6orTOEFLorIELTSexams,IhighlyrecommendthatyouhavealookattheshownoteswhereIhighlightedtheimportantwordsandphrases,I'msuretheywouldcomeinhandy.Also,forthoseofyouwhowanttodigdeeperintothisissue,youarewelcometocheckmyreferencelist,alsointheshownotes,forfurtherreading.Beforeyouleave,justaquickreminderthatyoucouldalsofindthesesmalltalksonXiaoyuzhou,Himalaya,andNeteasemusic,justgotoyourpreferredpodcastplatformandsearchthechannelBlairfully,likesandcommentswouldbeverymuchappreciated.Forthetranscript,gotomyWeChataccountOrangeRind,whereyoumightfindsomethingelsethatisequallyinteresting.Happylunarnewyear!Untilnexttime!