经济学人下载:榕树专栏--风暴不歇的日本和韩国(3)

Flood mitigation is essential. Yet though Japan and South Korea have few climate-change deniers, the sense that warming is a problem generated elsewhere has persisted for too long, says Ohbayashi Mika of the Renewable Energy Institute in Tokyo. That is changing faster in South Korea. Its civil society is more vigorous than Japan’s— and in a recent Gallup poll seven out of ten Koreans said recent floods underlined the seriousness of climate change. President Moon Jae-in promises to close ten coal plants before the end of his term in 2022. This week he used the typhoons as a reason to push for a trebling of renewable generation by 2025. South Korea’s coronavirus-related spending packages have had a strongly green element, says Ms Ohbayashi, unlike Japan’s. 

防洪减灾至关重要。尽管日本和韩国很少否认气候变化，但是民众已经察觉到了气候变暖是万恶之源，而且这种感觉已经持续了很久，东京可再生能源研究所表示。这种情况在韩国的转变更快。韩国民间社会比日本更加活跃，在最近的一次盖勒普民意调查中，有十分之七的韩国人表示，最近的洪水灾害已经凸显了气候变化的重要性。总统文在寅承诺在2022年任期结束前关闭十座煤电厂。本周，他以台风为由，强烈要求到2025年，可再生能源开发量增加两倍。与日本不同的是，韩国推行的与冠状病毒相关的支出计划中包含强烈的绿元素。

There, media coverage of weather events makes the link to climate change. Yet Japan’s own hefty carbon emissions rarely come up, says Watanabe Eri of 350.org, a green pressure group. Coal’s share in power generation has risen in the past decade, especially after Japan shut its nuclear plants. Targets adopted under the outgoing prime minister, Abe Shinzo, are feeble: coal will still be more than a quarter of the mix by 2030. Japan also promotes coal plants abroad. 

韩国媒体进行气候事件的报道时，会涉及气候变化。然而，绿色压力集团350.org的渡边埃里表示，日本媒体很少报道日本的巨额碳排放量。过去十年，发电量中的煤炭比重有所上升，特别是在日本关闭核电站之后。即将卸任的日本首相安倍晋三采纳的相关目标有些牵强，即到2030年，煤炭仍将占发电量的四分之一以上。日本还在海外推广煤电厂。

Change is always possible. Japanese businesses are under pressure from Western partners to cut their carbon use. Three years of floods have boosted new volunteers at Ms Watanabe’s group fivefold. The numbers remain tiny—around 250 a year. But all typhoons start with the merest waft of air. 

改变总是可能实现的。日本企业正面临着来自西方伙伴的压力，要求他们削减碳排放。三年的洪灾使渡边女士所在组织的志愿者人数新增了五倍。但是人数还是很少，每年只有250人左右。但是最轻微的气流也终会卷起台风。