每日跟讀#718: For Britain, the Clock Is Ticking on Carbon Emissions

In the shadow of a noisy, turbulent Brexit, another epic transformation is underway in Britain.

在喧鬧混亂的英國脫歐陰影下，另一場規模宏大的轉變正在英國展開。

A leading industrial power that built itself on coal and colonialism, Britain is now trying to pivot away from the fossil fuels that powered the industrial age. The government has set a legally binding target to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

英國是靠煤和殖民崛起的工業大國，如今卻致力與為工業時代提供動力的化石燃料告別。英國政府已立下具法律約束力的目標，要在2050年前實現淨零排碳。

Some of that change is already in motion: The country is fast ditching coal in favor of wind energy and gas. And this summer, for the first time in more than 130 years, it went two weeks without burning one lump of coal.

部分改變已經發生：英國正快速捨棄煤，改用風力與天然氣發電。今年夏天，英國更做到連續兩周完全不燒煤，是130多年來首見。

The new net-zero target, though, demands a far bigger shift that will likely change everything from the way Britons heat their homes to how they get to work to what food they grow and eat.

不過，若要達成新的淨零排碳目標，需要的轉變大得多，很可能樣樣事都得改變，包括英國人如何使家裡變暖和通勤上班，以及種植和食用那些食物。

The good news for Britain is that climate action enjoys widespread political support in an otherwise polarized society. The governing Conservatives proposed the net zero target, while the Labour Party recently one-upped them by calling for a 2030 deadline.

對英國來說，好消息是，儘管英國社會在其他方面意見皆呈兩極化，阻止氣候變遷的行動卻廣受政界支持。執政的保守黨提出淨零排碳的目標之後，在野的工黨最近加碼，說要提前在2030年達成。

“There’s a high degree of consensus that we need to do something, and the U.K. has a moral duty to lead,” said Bryony Worthington, a member of the House of Lords and executive director of the European branch of the Environmental Defense Fund. “We led the industrial revolution.”

英國上議院議員布萊歐妮．渥辛頓是環保組織「環境保護基金會」歐洲總監，她說：「我們必須有所作為，而且英國有扮演領頭羊的道德責任，英國社會對此有高度共識，畢竟工業革命是我們主導的。」

Britain’s historical emissions are the fifth highest in the world, according to an analysis by Carbon Brief, a British website that covers climate science and policy.

英國介紹氣候科學與政策的網站「碳簡報」的分析顯示，英國以往的碳排放量是世界第五高。

Nick Bridge, Britain’s senior climate envoy, said his country wants to position itself as “a global green hub.”

英國氣候變遷特別代表布里奇說，英國想自我定位為「全球環保中樞」。

Bold promise, meet the mess known as Brexit.

遠大的承諾偏偏遇到名為英國脫歐的混亂局面。

Britain’s economy is slowing precisely at a time when the country will need to invest the equivalent of at least 1% of its gross domestic product to meet its net zero target, according to the Committee on Climate Change, a government advisory body. Moreover, at a time of peak political dysfunction, the government has not implemented the policies needed to get to net-zero, nor mapped out how it will pay for the transition.

英國政府的顧問機構「氣候變遷委員會」的資料顯示，英國必須投注至少1%的國內生產毛額（GDP），才能達到淨零排碳目標，偏偏此際英國經濟成長卻在走緩。此外，目前英國政治極度失調，政府並未執行達到淨零碳排放的必要政策，亦未做好轉化的財源規畫。

“Brexit is a horrible distraction,” Worthington said. “Politically there’s not enough oxygen to even have a conversation.”

渥辛頓說：「英國脫歐吸走了太多注意力，在政治層面甚至連展開對話的基本條件都付之闕如。」

At the moment, the country is not on track to meet its earlier target for an 80% reduction in emissions from 1990 levels.

英國先前定下目標，要使碳排放量降到1990年水準的兩成，但目前看來恐難達成。

Alex Kazaglis, an economist who served on the Committee on Climate Change said, to get net-zero, Britain needs to generate much more electricity than ever before — all of it from non-fossil fuel sources.

曾在氣候變遷委員會任職的經濟學家卡薩格里斯說，英國若要達到淨零排碳，必須產出遠比先前多的電力，而且都要使用化石燃料之外的能源。

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/346374/web/