拜登政府已經將氣候變化作為與中國關係的關鍵部分，美國總統氣候特使約翰·克裡(John Kerry)公開批評中國的減排措施不夠充分。
在一次新的採訪中，億萬富翁慈善家比爾·蓋茨表示，自去年11月大選以來，他已多次與拜登討論氣候變化問題，他表示，中國在全球應對氣候變化的鬥爭中「超級重要」，因為中國是新技術的潛在來源，也是高排放工業領域的重要參與者。
但與中國的環境外交給拜登政府帶來了一項「棘手」的任務，它必須在敦促中國加快減排的同時，駕馭一種「複雜的關係」。
在他的新書《如何避免氣候災難》中，蓋茨說富裕國家應該在2050年達到淨零碳排放。他在接受雅虎財經採訪時指出，中國的目標落後於這個時間表，因為中國繼續支持碳密集型煤炭能源。
蓋茨表示:「中國目前的承諾是，到2060年實現零增長。」「那麼，我們怎樣才能在雙贏的情況下讓他們把日期提前，而不是讓他們大力推廣煤炭呢?」
蓋茨說，對煤炭的支持在國內生產和「一帶一路」倡議中繼續存在，「一帶一路」是中國主導的一系列價值數十億美元的發展項目，遍布100多個國家。
他補充道:「剩下的煤炭，雖然富裕國家也有一些工廠——我們需要擺脫這些工廠——但實際上這主要是中國和印度的問題。」
Yahoo Finance
Bill Gates: US faces 『tricky』 task working with China on climate changeMax Zahn with Andy Serwer
Sun, February 21, 2021
President Joe Biden kicked off[1] his administration with a flurry of executive orders[2] on climate change that included cancellation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and rejoining the Paris Agreement. But his effort to address the issue extends beyond U.S. borders and faces a stiff[3] diplomatic challenge with China, the world’s largest emitter of carbon.
The Biden administration has already made climate change a key part of relations with the country, covering the topic in a recent two-hour call with Chinese President Xi Jinping weeks after Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry publicly criticized China’s steps to reduce emissions as insufficient.
In a new interview, billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates — who said he has discussed climate change with Biden several times since the November election — told Yahoo Finance that China is 「super important」 to the global fight against climate change because it’s a potential source of new technology and a huge player in the high-emitting industrial sector[4].
But environmental diplomacy with the country poses a 「tricky」 task for the Biden administration, which must navigate a 「complex relationship」[5] while urging China to speed up its emissions reduction, according to Gates.
In his new book, 「How to Avoid a Climate Disaster,」 Gates says rich countries should reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Speaking with Yahoo Finance, he noted that China’s goals lag behind that timeline as it continues to back the carbon-intensive energy source coal[6].
「Their current commitment is zero by 2060,」 says Gates, former Microsoft (MSFT) CEO. 「So how can we — in a win-win kind of way — get them to bring that date earlier, and not have them promoting coal in such a big way?」
That support for coal continues in domestic production as well as the Belt and Road Initiative, a set of China-led development projects worth billions of dollars spread across more than 100 countries, Gates said.
「They are huge in the industrial economy — almost half of the world’s cement [and] half of the steel is made in that one country, some of it embedded in exports that they make,」 he adds. 「They also finance coal plants, not just domestically, but as part of the Belt and Road initiative in other countries as well.」
「The remaining coal, although there’s a few plants in rich countries — and we need to get rid of those — it’s really about China and India,」 he adds.
Biden inherits an adversarial[7] approach to China taken up by his predecessor, President Donald Trump, which included a years-long trade war, restrictions on telecommunications company Huawei, and efforts to ban social media platform TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance.
Gates, who in April downplayed criticism of China’s early response to the coronavirus, has carried out philanthropic[8] and public health initiatives in the country on a host of issues since the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation opened an office in the country in 2007.
Gates took a special interest in climate change over the course of electrification efforts[9] undertaken in the developing world by the Gates Foundation in the early 2000s, when he realized that concerns about carbon emissions could limit energy growth in the developing world, he told The New York Times. His study of the issue culminated with a Ted Talk in 2010 called 「Innovating to Zero!,」 describing the need for net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
In 2015, he helped launch the Breakthrough Energy Coalition, a collection of private investors who back ventures that will help the world address climate change. Other investors include Amazon (AMZN) founder and outgoing CEO Jeff Bezos and Alibaba Group (BABA) co-founder Jack Ma.
Gates praised Kerry, saying he will make the U.S. relationship with China a central part his effort to galvanize[10] global action on climate change.
「John Kerry is going to do his best to see if this isn’t an area that that we’re helping each other,」 Gates says.
注友新聞
注釋[1] kicked off注釋:開始
備註:[足球]中線開球；[口]（使）開始；[美，口]死；踢開
[2] a flurry of executive orders注釋:一連串的行政命令
[3] stiff注釋:嚴厲的
備註:美 [stɪf]
英 [stɪf]
adj. 呆板的；堅硬的；僵硬的；嚴厲的；拘謹的；稠的；（價格）高昂的；（酒）烈性的
adv. 極其；僵硬地；徹底地
n. 死屍；令人討厭者；流通票據；勞動者
vt. 詐騙；失信
注釋:高排放工業部門
[5] navigate a 「complex relationship」注釋:駕馭「複雜的關係」
[6] back the carbon-intensive energy source coal注釋:支持碳密集型能源煤炭
[7] adversarial注釋:敵對的
備註:美 [ˌædvəˈseəriəl]
英 [ˌædvəˈseəriəl]
adj. 對抗的；對手的，敵手的
注釋:慈善
備註:美 [ˌfɪlənˈθrɒpɪk]
英 [ˌfɪlənˈθrɒpɪk]
adj. 博愛的；仁慈的
注釋:在電氣化的過程中
[10] galvanize注釋:激勵
備註:美 [ˈɡælvənaɪz]
英 [ˈɡælvənaɪz]
vt. 鍍鋅；通電；刺激