進入英語學習論壇下載音頻

China's top climate negotiator said he is upbeat about the possibility of progress as talks enter a second week, despite differences among countries on issues such as the extension of the Kyoto Protocol and the creation of a Green Climate Fund.

The Kyoto Protocol is the only international climate treaty that binds industrialized countries to targets on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The first commitment period expires next year.

United Nations climate chief Christiana Figueres said she has seen positive signs, as countries "begin to understand where a common ground could be found".

The discussion is no longer whether there will be a second commitment period, but rather how governments would like to conform to that, she said.

A negotiation draft with more than 130 pages was readied at the weekend for arriving heads of state and ministers to narrow down options over the coming week.

Developing nations have insisted that the extension of the Kyoto Protocol is a cornerstone for the whole climate regime.

However, Japan, Canada and Russia have said they will not renew emissions-reduction pledges under the protocol, while the European Union wants to start negotiations for a new climate deal that binds all countries.

The United States never ratified the Kyoto Protocol and said it will not do so unless China and India also agree to a new treaty.

China showed flexibility during the first week of negotiations by saying it is open to talks about the EU's new condition, as well as offering the possibility to limit carbon emissions after 2020, a move welcomed by analysts and observers.

"Domestically, China is studying what mitigation efforts should look like after 2020, said Xie Zhenhua, deputy minister of the National Development and Reform Commission. He added that negotiations for the post-2020 targets should be based on the results of a review to be published in 2015.

The review should look at how industrialized countries' pledges under the Kyoto Protocol were accomplished and include an update of the climate science, he said.

China's stance is supported by three other emerging economies: Brazil, India and South Africa, which are also in the process of industrialization and have contributed little to historical greenhouse gas emissions.

Studies by leading climate experts from the four countries found that developing countries should have both equitable access to sustainable development and a period of time for them to lift people out of poverty.

The industrialized countries that ratified the Kyoto Protocol contributed to 90 percent of the global temperature rise between 1850 and 1990 because of their carbon emissions, according to a Brazilian study.

Questions:

1. What is the Kyoto Protocol?

2. How many pages is the negotiation draft?

3. What is China studying at the moment?

Answers:

1. The only international climate treaty that binds industrialized countries to targets on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

2. 130.

3. What mitigation efforts should look like past 2020.

（中國日報網英語點津 Rosy 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Emily Cheng is an editor at China Daily. She was born in Sydney, Australia and graduated from the University of Sydney with a degree in Media, English Literature and Politics. She has worked in the media industry since starting university and this is the third time she has settled abroad - she interned with a magazine in Hong Kong 2007 and studied at the University of Leeds in 2009.