Since the failure to agree binding international carbon emissions targets in Copenhagen three and a half years ago, the best to be said for global climate negotiations is that they have at least kept alive – just – the aspiration to strike a deal. Any prospect of actual success, however, remains shackled by Beijing’s unwillingness to commit to legally binding emissions caps, and the refusal of important rich country polluters, above all the US, to accept limits that are not also binding on China.
三年半前的哥本哈根會(huì)議，未能達(dá)成有約束力的國(guó)際碳排放目標(biāo)。自那以來(lái)，人們能夠給予全球氣候談判的最積極評(píng)價(jià)就是，它們起碼還保持著達(dá)成協(xié)議的強(qiáng)烈愿望（僅是強(qiáng)烈愿望而已）。但取得任何實(shí)質(zhì)性進(jìn)展的前景仍受到兩個(gè)因素阻礙，一是中國(guó)不愿接受具有法律約束力的碳排放限額，二是重要而富裕的碳排放國(guó)家（首先是美國(guó)）拒絕接受對(duì)自己有約束力、對(duì)中國(guó)卻無(wú)約束力的限制。