温室ガス対策 世界全体での削減努力が要る

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Immediate global action needed to cut greenhouse gas emissions
温室ガス対策　世界全体での削減努力が要る

What should be done to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a task essential for stopping the impact of global warming? The international community must immediately take action in this respect.
　地球温暖化の悪影響を食い止めるため、世界の温室効果ガス排出量をいかに減らすか。国際社会の喫緊の課題である。

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released a synthesis report on the latest knowledge and expertise related to the fight against global warming.
　国連の「気候変動に関する政府間パネル（ＩＰＣＣ）」が、温暖化対策の最新の知見をまとめた統合報告書を公表した。

Nations around the world have agreed to curb a rise in the average global temperature to less than 2 C, compared with the level reached before the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century. The target has been pursued as a result of agreements reached at global meetings, such as a session of the U.N. Climate Summit in September. These accords reflect a widely shared awareness that the warming of the Earth is bound to cause serious adverse effects for people, including shortages of food and water resources.
　９月の国連気候サミットなどで、各国は、世界の平均気温の上昇を１８世紀の産業革命前と比べ、２度未満に抑えることで合意している。温暖化が進めば、食料や水資源の不足など、人々の生活に深刻な影響が及ぶためだ。

The U.N. panel’s report stated that, if the “less than 2 C” goal is to be met, a 40 percent to 70 percent reduction in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions must be met by the end of 2050 over the 2010 levels. The huge target set in the report can be regarded as an effort to press each nation to take aggressive anti-global warming measures.
　統合報告書は、「２度未満」を達成するには、二酸化炭素（ＣＯ２）などの排出量を２０５０年までに１０年比で４０～７０％削減する必要があると指摘した。高いハードルを課し、各国に積極的な取り組みを促したと言える。

The IPCC report is expected to affect talks on a new framework in the fight against global warming, which will take effect in 2020, replacing the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
　報告書は、京都議定書に代わり、２０年に発効する新たな枠組みの交渉に影響しよう。

The new framework, which requires every member nation to set its own emissions reduction goal, is scheduled to be adopted in late 2015 at the 21st session of the Conference of Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) in Paris.
全ての国が自主目標を掲げる新枠組みは、来年末にパリで開かれる国連気候変動枠組み条約の第２１回締約国会議（ＣＯＰ２１）で合意される予定だ。

U.S., China must act

It is imperative for the international community to ensure the new framework is designed to greatly reduce greenhouse gases, noting the bitter lesson learned from the Kyoto Protocol, which did little to attain its target.
　実効性を欠いた京都議定書を教訓に、世界の排出量を大幅に減らす仕組みとすることが肝要だ。

At a summit meeting of the European Union in October, EU leaders decided to seek a 40 percent cut in their nations’ emissions by the end of 2030, compared with the 1990 levels.
　欧州連合（ＥＵ）は１０月の首脳会議で、３０年までに１９９０年比４０％減という目標を決めた。

The EU has led international negotiations over climate change since the 1990s. It is easy to see that the EU nations set a high reduction goal before the rest of the world, hoping to seize the initiative in talks over the new framework.
　ＥＵは、９０年代から気候変動を巡る国際交渉をリードしてきた。新枠組みの議論でも主導権を握るため、他国に先駆けて高い目標を打ち出したのは明らかだ。

China, the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, has expressed a readiness to ensure its emission increase takes a downward turn as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the United States, the second-largest emitter, is showing a willingness to adopt anti-global warming steps, encouraged by the increase in its output of shale gas, a natural resource whose carbon dioxide emissions are smaller than those of coal.
　世界１位の排出国の中国は、排出量を早期に減少に転じさせる方針を示している。次に排出量の多い米国は、石炭に比べてＣＯ２排出の少ないシェールガスの産出が増えたことから、温暖化対策に積極姿勢をみせる。

The most important task to be accomplished under the new framework is to ensure the United States and China achieve success in greatly reducing their emissions, given that the two nations account for more than 40 percent of the world’s total emissions.
　新枠組みで最も重要なのは、世界全体の排出量の４割以上を占める米中両国が、大幅な排出削減を実現させることだ。

Next month, the COP20 conference will be held in Lima. There is no doubt that maneuverings among member nations will grow more and more intense, with each country striving to see the framework finalized in a manner that will benefit its own interests.
　来月には、ペルーのリマでＣＯＰ２０が開かれる。自国に有利な枠組みを目指す各国の駆け引きが激化するのは、間違いない。

In Japan, discussions have begun on a reduction target our nation should seek in 2020 and beyond. However, it would be advisable to avoid setting an unrealistic goal at a time when there is no determining the extent to which nuclear power plants, facilities that produce no carbon dioxide emissions, can be utilized.
　日本でも２０年以降の削減目標についての検討が始まった。ただ、ＣＯ２を排出しない原子力発電所をどの程度、活用できるのかが見通せない中で、非現実的な目標を設定するのは避けるべきだ。

Japan only accounts for 4 percent of the world’s total gas emissions. Undoubtedly, it is imperative for Japan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at home. From the standpoint of a global emissions reduction, however, we believe it is even more helpful to use our nation’s excellent energy-saving technology to help developing countries reduce their emissions.
　日本の排出量は世界全体の４％に満たない。国内での削減努力も必要だが、世界全体の排出量削減の観点からは、得意の省エネルギー技術で途上国を支援していくことが、より効果的ではないか。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Nov. 5, 2014)Speech