| | Words in the News |
INTRO | | The United Nations summit is the first chance to salvage a deal since the dramatic collapse of talks on the Kyoto protocol in the Hague, and with the US still taking a tough line, other nations must decide whether to offer concessions to coax them back into the process. Mike Donkin reports. |
IN FULL | |  | Listen to the report in full |
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23rd April 2001
Climate summit |
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NEWS 1 | | | Listen to the first part of the report |
| | | Jan Pronk, who leads UN negotiations on climate change, has summoned the world's environment ministers to decide whether they should press on with the Kyoto deal and the emissions control targets it sets or tempt the Americans back. Mr Pronk has already said that the US might trade a commitment to plant forests as carbon sinks or by carbon credits from other nations instead of reducing its emissions by the drastic levels that Kyoto requires.
When George W Bush pulled out of the deal, he said targets like these would ruin the American economy, and a newly-leaked State Department memo forcefully re-states that position, suggesting the US should urge climate change solutions based only on market forces and improved technology. |
| | | | Listen to the words |
WORDS | | negotiations – discussions between people in which they try to reach an agreement
climate change – an affect on the world’s weather systems brought about by different levels of gases in the atmosphere
press on – continue doing something in spite of difficulties
emissions control targets – the desired levels of harmful gases released into the environment
a commitment to – a faithful promise to do something
sinks – decreases by a large amount
carbon credit – a set amount of carbon a country is allowed to release into the environment
drastic – significant and urgent targets like these – similar goals and aims
American economy – The system by which America organises its money, industry and trade
market forces – the factors that determine how many people want to buy a product or service |
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| NEWS 2 | | | Listen to the second part of the report |
| | | After ten years of talking, all the ministers here want action on Kyoto as soon as possible. Britain's John Prescott spelled this out:
"We need to keep striving for that concensus which indeed is the responsibility of our generation, or the world today and the children of tomorrow will not forgive us if we don't secure that agreement."
The hard choice they must make is whether to go for a deal without the nation which alone contribute a quarter of the world's greenhouse gases, or keep waiting for Mr Bush to change his mind. |
| | | | Listen to the words |
| WORDS | | striving – making a great effort to achieve something
consensus – a general agreement among a group of people
secure that agreement – to ensure the terms of the agreement are met and honoured
greenhouse gases – gases that trap heat from the sun and cause a gradual rise in the temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere
change his mind – to change one’s mind is to alter or reverse an opinion or a decision |
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