2015考研英语阅读集中练AS the Waters Rise_大学英语阅读

2015考研英语阅读集中练AS the Waters Rise

　　Yvo de Boer, head of the agency that oversees Kyoto and its precursor, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, says the gulf between America and the rest is less wide than it appears. Although Mr. Bush is not yet ready to contemplate a binding international treaty that would limit greenhouse-gas emissions, he does advocate policies that could help trim America s emissions. As it is, states representing over half of America s emissions have pledged cuts of some kind. Congress, meanwhile, is contemplating several bills that would impose a national cap. Australia, the other rich country that rejected Kyoto, is also working on an emissions-reduction plan.

　　Poor countries, for the most part, are still refusing to accept any targets of their own. They

　　argue that rich countries have not made enough use of the Clean Development Mechanism, a scheme under Kyoto that lets countries with emissions-reduction targets meet them in part through projects in poor countries. Cuba s foreign minister, for one, dismissed rich countries efforts to date as modestisimo: he questioned the moral authority of leaders like Mr. Bush. India merely vowed that its emissions per head would never exceed the level of rich countries, a formula that still permits enormous growth.

　　But a few developing countries hinted at a more flexible stance. Mexico suggested tying the aid given to poor countries through programmes like the CDM to their efforts to combat climate change. Indonesia s president, amid more talk of differentiated responsibilities , said all countries should take on bigger burdens, and told fellow leaders to think outside the box . There was much discussion--albeit mostly on the sidelines--of poor countries taking on targets for emissions per head, or per unit of output in certain industries.