《经济学人》双语：韩国净零排放承诺只是嘴上说说？

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原文标题：South Korea and net zeroGreenwashing in SeoulA country that promised to lead on climate is lagging韩国与净零排放首尔“绿色洗白”一个承诺引领气候变化的国家却落后了South Korea, having sworn to lead the green transition, is holding it upThe country has given its polluting industries even longer to cut their emissions韩国曾发誓要引领绿色转型，但现在却迟迟没有行动韩国给了污染企业更长的减排时间[Paragraph 1]ADDRESSING THE UN‘s annual climate summit in 2009, South Korea’s then-president promised his country would be “an early mover when it comes to tackling climate change”. 在2009年的联合国年度气候峰会上，时任韩国总统发表讲话时承诺，韩国将成为“应对气候变化的先行者”。Lee Myung-bak pledged that South Korea would allocate the equivalent of 2% of GDP per year to the fight over the next five years and host an inter-governmental initiative, the Global Green Growth Institute, outside Seoul. 李明博承诺，韩国将在未来五年内每年拨出相当于国内生产总值2%的资金用于应对气候变化，并在首尔郊外主办一个政府间倡议--全球绿色增长研究所。“Instead of saying you first’,” said Mr Lee, the former head of Hyundai Construction, South Korea would henceforthact “me first”.现代建设公司前董事长李明博表示，“与其说'你先'”，不如’我先‘行动。

[Paragraph 2]Considering the shape of the country’s economy, this was ambitious. 考虑到韩国的经济状况，这是一个雄心勃勃的目标。South Korea’s rise from post-war destitution, to become the world’s 12th-largest economy, was driven by polluting heavy industry and fossil fuels. 韩国从战后的贫困中崛起，成为世界第12大经济体，由污染严重的重工业和化石燃料的推动发展。Perhaps predictably, then, neither Mr Lee nor his successors have done much to help the country meaningfully curbits emissions. 也许可以预见的是，李先生和他的继任者没有做很多事情来真正遏制排放问题。A decarbonisation “blueprint” recently released by the current government of Yoon Suk-yeol provides further reason to doubt that it will.现任总统尹锡悦最近发布的脱碳“蓝图”进一步证实了这个预言。[Paragraph 3]South Korea’s emissions did not peak until 2018, almost a decade after Mr Lee made his commitment and much later than in most other industrialised countries. 韩国的排放量直到 2018 年才达到峰值，距李明博的气候承诺近十年，而且比大多数其他工业化国家晚得多。The country subsequently adopt a legally binding commitment to reduce its emissions by 40% relative to their 2018 level by 2030, and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. 该国随后做出了具有法律约束力的承诺，即在2030年前将其排放量在2018年的基础上减少40%，并在2050年前实现净零排放。But this would be hard even with massive government intervention. 但即使有大规模的政府干预，这也很难实现。To achieve its net-zero target South Korea would have to reduce emissions by an average of % a year. 为了实现净零排放目标，韩国必须每年平均减少 % 的排放量。By comparison, the EU must reduce its emissions by an average of 2% between its baseline year and 2030, while America and Britain must achieve annual cuts of %.相比之下，欧盟必须在基准年到 2030 年之间平均减少2%的排放量 ，而美国和英国则必须实现每年 % 的减排量。[Paragraph 4]Far from broachingthe necessary serious measures, South Korea seems content to pay lip-service to the issue. 韩国非但没有提出必要的严肃措施，反而似乎还停留在气候问题的口头承诺上。In effect, Mr Yoon’s proposals take aim at the too-modest measures promised by his predecessor, Moon Jae-in. 实际上，尹先生的提议针对的是前任总统文在寅承诺的过于温和的措施。Besides institutingSouth Korea’s net-zero commitments, Mr Moon aimed to cut reliance on coal-fired electricity generation, from 42% of total generation to 22%. His government issued fairly modest subsidies to renewables. 除了制定韩国的净零排放承诺外，文在寅的目标是减少对燃煤发电的依赖，从占总发电量的 42% 降至 22%。他的政府为可再生能源提供了相当少的补贴。It also “instructed” South Korean industry to curb its emissions, from 261m tonnes a year in 2018 to 223m by 2030, without providing many regulatory or fiscal measures to help it do so. 政府还“指示”韩国工业要遏制排放量，从2018年的每年亿吨减少到2030年的亿吨，但没有提供许多监管或财政措施来帮助实现这一目标。Mr Yoon, while reaffirming South Korea’s headline targets, has back-pedalledon much of that.尹先生虽然重申了韩国的总体目标，但其中大部分目标却大打折扣。[Paragraph 5]He has cut his predecessor’s renewables subsidies, and also his targeted increase in renewables. 他削减了前任总统的可再生能源补贴，并削减了可再生能源增长目标。Mr Yoon has at least proposed a welcome boost to South Korea’s nuclear-power generation, which Mr Moon disliked on the basis of his supporters’ exaggerated safety concerns. 尹先生至少提出了一个值得欢迎的建议，那就是大力推动韩国的核能发电，而文在寅因担忧安全问题而放弃这一提议。But Mr Yoon has not yet revealed plans for new nuclear power stations. 但尹先生尚未透露新核电站的计划。Bowing to corporate pressure, he has also watered down his predecessor’s demands of industry. 迫于企业压力，他还淡化了前任总统对工业的脱碳要求。Its lobbyists complained that the pollution curbs demanded of businesses would “weaken industrial competitiveness”, destroy jobs and be a “burden” on the economy. 企业说客们抱怨称，对企业提出的污染控制要求将“削弱行业竞争力”，破坏就业机会，并成为经济的“负担”。Mr Yoon has both reduced and deferredthem. Around 75% of the wished-for industrial emissions cuts are now supposed to happen after 2027, which is when Mr Yoon is due to leave office.尹先生既减少又推迟了这些要求。目前预计约75%的工业减排目标将在2027年之后实现，届时尹先生将卸任。[Paragraph 6]His government claims South Korea will still meet its commitments for 2030. 他的政府声称，韩国仍将履行其2030年净零排放的承诺。Its promise to bring some nuclear power plants already under construction online and increase renewables, somehow or other, would at least help with that. 它承诺将一些已经在建的核电站投入使用，并增加可再生能源，无论如何，至少会对实现目标有所帮助。So, if realised, would the government’s talk of increasing use of hydrogen as an industrial fuel, as well as carbon-capture technology. 如果能够实现，政府关于增加氢气作为工业燃料的使用以及碳捕捉技术的说法也会实现。Mr Yoon has gone so far as to promise public investment, subsidies and loans for such clean technologies. 尹先生甚至承诺为这些清洁技术提供公共投资、补贴和贷款。But those measures are yet to materialise, and unless that changes it will be hard to accept the president’s claims at face value.但这些措施尚未落实，除非这种情况发生改变，否则很难从字面上接受总统的主张。[Paragraph 7]The main outcome of his blueprint is a signal to industry that there is no hurry, says Youn Se-jong of Plan , an NGO working on climate policy. “It’s only going to postpone the necessary transition.”尹世宗在致力于推动气候政策的非政府组织 任职，他表示总统蓝图的主要结果是向业界发出一个信号，即不着急。“但这只会推迟必要的过渡时间。”（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇量732左右）原文出自：2023年6月24日《The Economist》Asia版块

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【补充资料】（来自于网络）洗绿，绿色洗白Greenwashing是指企业或组织在营销、广告或宣传中使用虚假或夸大的环保标签和宣言，以掩盖其对环境可持续性的不负责任行为。这种行为旨在误导消费者，使其相信该公司或产品对环境友好，从而增加销售量和声誉。例子包括将不环保的产品标记为"绿色"、"可持续"或"环保"，但实际上它们的生产过程可能含有有害物质，或者它们的包装和运输方式并不环保。Plan 是一个非政府组织，旨在应对气候变化和推动可持续发展。该组织成立于2020年，由联合国秘书长安东尼奥·古特雷斯发起。Plan 的名称源自巴黎协定中的目标，即限制全球变暖幅度在摄氏度以内。该组织的使命是通过全球范围内的行动，推动政府、企业和公众采取措施降低温室气体排放并适应气候变化。【重点句子】（3个）South Korea’s rise from post-war destitution, to become the world’s 12th-largest economy, was driven by polluting heavy industry and fossil fuels. 韩国从战后的贫困中崛起，成为世界第12大经济体，由污染严重的重工业和化石燃料的推动发展。But this would be hard even with massive government intervention. 但即使有大规模的政府干预，这也很难实现。Far from broaching the necessary serious measures, South Korea seems content to pay lip-service to the issue. 韩国非但没有提出必要的严肃措施，反而似乎还停留在气候问题的口头承诺上。