许多政府正在试图减少温室气体排放，以应对气候变化。但我们能否实现不产生任何多余排放的目标？本期探讨英国政府为达到 “净零排放（net zero）” 做出的种种举措，通过本文也能学习到非常多关于时下最火热的“碳中和、碳补偿”的英文表达。
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We are all aware of the effect greenhouse gas emissions is having on our planet and the efforts needed to tackle climate change. Most of us are doing our bit to minimise our impact on the environment, but despite our collective effort, are we doing enough to achieve net zero by 2050?
Net zero means not adding to the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Many countries are doing their bit by changing how they generate and use power, thereby cutting carbon dioxide output. And they announced what further steps they were going to take at the recent COP26 summit in Glasgow.
In the UK, the government has been setting out its plans to achieve net zero by 2050. It’s recently announced an end date for the sale of gas boilers, which are used for heating homes. The idea is to replace them with heat pumps. It’s offering homeowners grants of up to £5,000 to get them installed. Another initiative in the UK is a big push towards electric vehicles. There are to be financial incentives for car manufacturers, and more charging points are to be installed in streets. And there’s to be a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030.
But not all emissions can be reduced to zero, so those remaining will have to be compensated for, or offset. One way to do this is to plant thousands of trees, which are good at absorbing carbon dioxide. The UK government has pledged to plant 30,000 hectares of trees a year by 2025. There are other ideas too, but what’s certain is this will cost money. The CBI’s Tom Thackray told the BBC that “those costs have to be weighed up against the cost of inaction.”
Whether the UK, or anyone else, reaches net zero remains to be seen. And there’s some doubt about how this can be accurately measured anyway. But it’s generally recognised that a global effort is needed to tackle climate change. Therefore, net zero targets only make sense if every other country is moving in the same direction.
vocabulary
emission 排放
climate change 气候变化
do one’s bit 尽一份力
net zero “净零排放”（温室气体净排放为零）
greenhouse gas 温室气体
carbon dioxide 二氧化碳
gas boiler 燃气锅炉
heat pump 热泵
electric vehicle 电动车辆，电动汽车
incentive 鼓励，激励
offset 抵消 =compensate 补偿
inaction 不作为，不行动
global effort 全球携手努力
make sense 有意义
target 目标
new petrol and diesel cars 新型汽油和柴油车
be weighed up against 与...权衡，对比
make sentences
We’re doing our bit to tidy up（收拾整理） the village by picking up litter（捡拾垃圾）.
The incentive for writing this script is we’re allowed to go home early.
Kevin has set us a target to do double the amount of work this week.
We’re going to offset（补偿、抵消） the cost of the holiday by not spending as much on going out for meals.
It takes a global effort to deal with climate change.
