ＣＯＰ１９閉幕 国際協調で温暖化対策を前へ

The Yomiuri Shimbun November 26, 2013
Push ahead measures to tackle climate change with international cooperation
ＣＯＰ１９閉幕　国際協調で温暖化対策を前へ（11月25日付・読売社説）

Due to the conflicting interests of developed and developing countries, including emerging economies, the just-concluded discussions on climate change made hardly any progress. The latest U.N. talks on the issue vividly demonstrated the difficulties facing the international effort to tackle global warming.
　先進国と、新興国を含む途上国の利害がぶつかり、議論が進まない。地球温暖化対策の現状が如実に示された。

The 19th Conference on Climate Change (COP19) has ended in Warsaw. The participants extended the meeting by one day, managing to prevent it from breaking down.
　ワルシャワで開かれていた国連気候変動枠組み条約の第１９回締約国会議（ＣＯＰ１９）が閉幕した。会期を１日延長し、決裂だけは回避した。

A new greenhouse gas reduction framework to replace the Kyoto Protocol is to be implemented in 2020. By when should the participating countries submit their voluntary greenhouse gas emission targets for the years beyond 2020? As to this major point of contention, the participants agreed on a final draft of their joint communique that encourages their governments to present their targets in 2015.
　京都議定書に代わる新たな枠組みは、２０２０年に発効予定だ。各国は温室効果ガスの２０年以降の自主的な削減目標をいつまでに提出するか。最大の焦点について、「１５年に提出することを奨励する」との最終案が合意に達した。

While advanced countries had tried to put a specific process in motion to build a new framework, developing countries opposed specifying the timing. It can be said that both sides went as far as they could in reaching the agreement. The negotiations on a new framework have a tough road ahead.
　新たな枠組みへの具体的な道筋を着けようとする先進国に対し、途上国は時期の明示に反発した。ぎりぎりの線での合意だったと言えよう。新たな枠組みを巡る交渉の前途は多難である。

Recent spates of climate catastrophes such as the occurrence of super typhoons are said to be caused by global warming. When the delegation from the Philippines, which was hit hard by Typhoon No. 30, appealed for an immediate increase in efforts to tackle global warming, the appeal won the sympathy of other countries.
　巨大台風の頻発など、このところの気候異変は、地球温暖化に起因しているとも言われる。台風３０号による甚大な被害を受けたフィリピンの交渉団が「すぐに行動を」と温暖化対策の前進を訴えると、各国の共感を呼んだ。

Developing nations want help

While sharing a sense of crisis over global warming, developing countries repeatedly asserted that advanced countries should proactively support them because of their weak financial position. They did so because they believe the advanced countries are responsible for global warming, as they have emitted a massive amount of greenhouse gas with their industrial production.
　温暖化の危機感は共有しつつ、途上国側は、先進国が資金力に乏しい途上国を積極的に支援すべきだと主張し続けた。温暖化を招いた責任は、生産活動で温室効果ガスを大量に排出してきた先進国にあるとの理由からだ。

Indeed, it will be necessary to extend a certain amount of support to developing countries that cannot afford to take measures to deal with environmental issues on their own.
　環境対策に手が回らない途上国に、一定の支援は必要だろう。

On the other hand, we should not forget the reality that the total amount of emissions from developing countries as a whole has topped the total amount for advanced countries now. It was quite reasonable for advanced countries, including Japan, to call on developing countries to adopt the stance of reducing emissions on their own initiative.
　一方で、途上国全体の排出量が今や、先進国を上回っていることを忘れてはならない。途上国にも主体的に排出量を減らす姿勢が求められる、とする日本など先進国側の主張はもっともだ。

In particular, such emerging economies as China—the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gas—need to assume their fair share of responsibility for reducing the emissions.
　特に、世界一の排出国である中国など新興国は、排出削減に応分の責任を負う必要がある。

Environment Minister Nobuteru Ishihara emphasized at the COP19 conference that the new framework should be fair and effective and be applied to all countries. It is vital to firmly maintain this course of action.
　石原環境相はＣＯＰ１９で、新たな枠組みについて、「公平で実効性があり、すべての国に適用される内容でなければならない」と強調した。この方向性を堅持していくことが肝要である。

At the conference, the Japanese government expressed its new goal of “reducing its domestic greenhouse gas emissions by 3.8 percent from the fiscal 2005 level by the end of fiscal 2020,” a target that drew criticism from other countries as being too low.
　日本政府は「２０年度までに０５年度比３・８％削減」という目標を表明したが、各国から「削減率が低すぎる」との批判を浴びた。

Yet the 3.8 percent cut is a numerical value set at a time when none of the nation’s nuclear power stations, which do not emit any carbon dioxide when generating electricity, are operating.
　しかし、「３・８％減」は、発電時に二酸化炭素を排出しない原子力発電所が一つも稼働していない現状での数値だ。

The government should expedite its efforts to work out a basic energy plan that specifies a future ratio of nuclear power generation. It is important for the government to raise the emissions reduction target by the end of 2020 based on such a basic plan and to make steady progress in setting a realistic target for the years beyond 2020.
　政府は、原発の将来的な比率を明示したエネルギー基本計画の策定を急ぐべきだ。その上で、２０年までの削減目標の上積みと、２０年以降の現実的な目標の設定を着実に進めることが重要である。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Nov. 25, 2013)
（2013年11月25日01時17分  読売新聞）