World Leaders and Environmental Activists Welcome the Paris Agreement

From CRIENGLISH.com

Almost as soon as the climate change accord[协议] was agreed, U.S. President[美国总统] Barack Obama tweeted[发表推特] his approval of the deal[支持(这个)协议/协定] describing it as "huge" and crediting[相信，信任；把…归给，归功于；赞颂] American leadership for the agreement.

U.S. Secretary of State[美国国务卿] John Kerry called the climate change agreement "a victory for all of the planet and for future generations."

Australia's Foreign Minister[澳大利亚外交部长] Julie Bishop also gave her backing[支持] to the agreement, summing up[总结；概述] the spirit of the two week negotiations.

"Our work here is done and now we can return home to implement this historic agreement[实现这一历史性的协议]. This is a pivotal[关键的；中枢的；枢轴的] moment for we have concluded a new global, legal agreement that we see all countries committed to taking ambitious steps in accordance with[依照；与…一致] the national circumstances and capabilities[(不同)国情和能力]. The world has come together to capture our common aspirations[共同心声/愿望]."

Among the delegates[代表] at the conference hall[会议厅；会议室], South African Environment Minister[南非环境部长] Edna Molewa was one of the first to speak following the adoption[采用；收养；接受] of the global pact[协议] to combat[战斗；搏斗；防止] climate change.

She praised the agreement, saying that it calls on[访问，拜访；号召，请求] all countries to reduce[减少；降低] or rein in[控制；放慢；止住] their greenhouse gas emissions[温室气体排放] as "the best we can get at this historic moment", at the same time, she stressed that developed countries[发达国家] should enhance[提高；加强；增加] the ambition[野心，雄心；抱负，志向] of their actions.

"Again, developing countries[发展中国家] have been asked to take this leap[飞跃;跨越] without a firm commitment to provide the support that will enable us to contribute our fair share[公平分配；公平共享]. For our efforts to combat[战斗；搏斗；防止] climate change to be successful, Mr. President, it is critical that developed countries[发达国家] significantly enhance the ambition of their actions and ensure that the enhanced actions of developing countries are adequately[充分地；足够地；适当地] supported."

According to the draft[草稿; 初稿;草案], nations would have to reach a peak[到达最高点;达到顶峰] in greenhouse emissions "as soon as possible" and achieve a balance between output of manmade greenhouse gases and absorption[吸收] - by forests or the oceans - "by the second half of this century"[下半世纪].

However, Environmental Politics Specialist[环境政治学专家] Francois Gemenne expressed his concern, saying the objective to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels was not realistic[不现实].

"In my opinion, the big uncertainty[很大的不确定性] is how this objective of 1.5 degrees, which is the big surprise of the agreement, will be taken seriously because as things stand now, this objective is absolutely not realistic. So if we take it seriously, we have to change direction immediately and that means the immediate end to energy derived from[来源于] fossil fuels[化石燃料], and that is a revolution which we probably don't measure the consequences of yet."

As the conference was entering its final phase[最后阶段], demonstrations[展示;示威游行;示威集会] continued in Paris.

Activists saying the final agreement would not go far enough[远远不够], and staging[举行；上演；筹划] protests[抗议] to call attention to populations threatened by melting glaciers[融化冰川], rising seas[海平面上升] and expanding deserts[沙漠蔓延].

For CRI, I'm Niu Honglin.