英国环保水平处于欧洲末流的英语美文
Britain Gets Bad Mark in Pollution Ratings
在倡导“绿色”和环境保护的欧洲，英国人一定没有想到自己的国家在环保方面却是一个“矮子”。
Britain has one of the worst environmental records in Europe.
在倡导“绿色”和环境保护的欧洲，英国人一定没有想到自己的国家在环保方面却是一个“矮子”。根据美国耶鲁大学和哥伦比亚大学研究人员共同撰写的《2005年环境可持续发展指数报告》，在146个上榜国家中，英国位列第66位。这样的排名比大多数北欧国家、美国(第45位)甚至许多前苏联加盟共和国的排名都要低。
据英国《卫报》1月25日报道，这份将要在1月27日达沃斯世界经济论坛上发表的报告，其目的在于通过对各国在诸如大气污染治理、生物多样性和环保国际协作等方面的.研究和分析，对各国在未来几十年里环保方面的能力做出一个准确判断。根据这份报告，芬兰得分75.1，高居各国之首，而英国只有50.2分，排在第66位。
但从排名上看，英国比2002年时的第91位排名上升了不少，但该报告的作者在解释其中的原因时表示，这并不是说英国人在改善环保方面做出了什么突出的贡献，而是因为新报告在一些标准的采用方面作了一些修改。
根据这份环境可持续发展报告，在22个欧盟国家里，英国的环保排名在第16位，也就是说英国在环保方面比起斯堪的纳维亚半岛国家、德国、法国和前苏联的一些加盟共和国，比如拉脱维亚、立陶宛和爱沙尼亚来说，做得远远不够。可以说，在欧盟大家庭中，英国人的环保纪录应该是最末流的。根据上述报告，在环保方面做得最出色国家应该是北欧的芬兰，世界上没有任何一个国家在环保方面能够超过芬兰的成就。而在欧洲国家里，环境保护工作最不得力的国家则是比利时。
耶鲁大学环境法规政策中心主任、本书作者之一的丹尼尔·埃斯蒂认为：“英国在环保方面最薄弱的环节就是土地的退化。此外，英国在减少大气污染方面做得也很不够。伦敦和许多其它英国城市在治理大气污染方面都存在很多问题。虽然巴黎和罗马的大气污染要比伦敦严重得多，但是同美国的洛杉矶或者是休斯敦相比，伦敦的大气污染实在是太严重了。”
报告还显示，英国人在促进他国减少污染方面也比较落后。比如英国至今仍然是海外钢铁和汽车业的消费大户，而这些行业在任何一个国家都是污染大户。埃斯蒂教授表示：“虽然这些污染严重的工业已经移出了英国，一些经济学家甚至将这样的举止称为一个成就，但从全球环保角度来看，这个问题显然一点也不乐观。”
对于这份即将正式出台的报告，英国环境、食品和农业事务部的一位发言人进行了反驳。他说：“英国在可持续发展方面一直有着良好的信誉。在改善生活用水方面，英国也逐年取得进步。”
对于美国环保方面的问题，报告作者之一的埃斯蒂教授认为，美国在环保方面比美国人自己想象的要差，但要比大多数欧洲人认为的要好。他说：“美国的环保发展很不平衡。美国的水质在世界上是一流的，但在温室气体排放方面，美国则处在世界末流地位。”
Britain has one of the worst environmental records in Europe, according to a new index ranking countries on their performance on green issues which will be unveiled at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week.
The 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI), obtained by the Guardian ahead of Thursday"s publication, was compiled by researchers at Yale and Columbia universities using 21 broad indicators covering pollution levels, policy and vulnerability to environmental damage. The aim, their report says, was to gauge each nation"s ability "to protect the environment over the next several decades".
By that measure, Britain is in a lowly state. It ranks 66th out of the 146 countries on the index, considerably behind most of northern Europe, the US (ranked 45th), and even most of the former Soviet Union.
The result is at least a marked improvement on the last index in 2002, when Britain was ranked 91st, but the ESI"s authors say that the rise up the table is a reflection of a refinement in the criteria used more than real environmental improvements. The country remains near the bottom of the league in Europe.
Britain ranked 16th out of the 22 European Union countries in the study, significantly worse than Scandinavia, Germany, France and the former Soviet Baltic republics, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Finland came top in Europe and the world. Belgium came last in Europe while North Korea was judged to be worst in the world.
"In the UK, the weakest element is land degradation. There is a high percentage of British land that has been messed with through 1,000 years of history," said Daniel Esty, director of the Yale centre for environmental law and policy and one of the report"s authors. "Britain also lags badly when it comes to reducing air pollution. London and other cities have a serious air pollution problem.
Britain also scored poorly for exporting environmental pressures abroad, continuing to consume the output of polluting industries, like steel and cars, which have moved overseas. "The dirty business is being done elsewhere," Prof Esty said. "Economists will celebrate this as comparable advantage, but it looks differently from an environmental point of view."
However, the main reason Britain improved its position in the global table since the last index in 2002, Prof Esty said, was the introduction of new measures of sustainability, such as vulnerability to environmental disasters like drought, where the country"s geography and high rainfall makes it look good.
The index was compiled by assigning each country points under 21 different headings, such as air quality, biodiversity, reducing air pollution, environmental health and international collaborative efforts. Britain scored 50.2, compared with 75.1 for Finland, 55.2 for France and 52.9 for the US.
Prof Esty said the US performed worse than many Americans expected but better than most Europeans believed. "The US has a very uneven performance," he said. "They have the best water quality in the world ... but they are on the bottom tier on waste generation and greenhouse gas emissions."
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