報告稱大氣污染每年致650萬人死亡

A sobering report released on Monday by the International Energy Agency says air pollution has become a major public health crisis leading to around 6.5 million deaths each year, with “many of its root causes and cures” found in the energy industry.

國際能源署（International Energy Agency，簡稱IEA）週一發佈了一份發人深思的報告，稱大氣污染已經成了一場重大的公共衛生危機，每年導致約650萬人死亡，並表示在能源行業找到了大氣污染的“很多根本原因和解決辦法”。

The air pollution study is the first for the agency, an energy security group based in Paris, which is expanding its mission under its executive director, Fatih Birol.

這是總部設在巴黎的該能源安全機構首次研究大氣污染。在署長法提赫·比羅爾(Fatih Birol)的帶領下，國際能源署正在擴大自己的任務範圍。

The agency, whose 29 members are wealthy, industrialized countries, was founded in response to the Arab oil embargo in 1973 to coordinate international responses to energy issues. It is perhaps best known for its monthly oil market reports that are eagerly awaited by traders.

1973年，因爲阿拉伯產油國實行石油禁運，國際能源署得到創立，旨在協調國際社會應對能源問題的行動。國際能源署的成員爲29個富裕的工業化國家，其最著名的行動或許是每月發佈一次的石油市場報告。該報告備受交易員的關注。

Mr. Birol, an economist, argues that pressing concerns about climate change and the emergence of countries like China and India as major energy consumers and polluters mean that the agency needs to shift its strategy.

身爲經濟學家的比羅爾認爲，有關氣候變化的緊迫問題，以及中國和印度等國成爲主要的能源消耗國和污染國，意味着國際能源署須調整戰略。

“To stay relevant,” he said in an interview on Friday, we “need to work much closer with new emerging energy economies.”

“要想繼續發揮重要作用，”他週五接受採訪時表示，我們“需要與新興能源經濟體更密切地合作”。

Mr. Birol has been working to build bridges with China in particular, which energy experts say is crucial to the success of global efforts to reduce emissions.

比羅爾一直在努力建立與中國的聯繫。能源專家稱，中國對全球減排行動的成功至關重要。

“To solve today’s biggest energy problems, the I.E.A. needs to have the world’s most important energy players as part of it,” said Jason Bordoff, director of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University.

“要解決當今最大的能源問題，IEA需要讓全球最重要的能源市場主體參與進來，”哥倫比亞大學全球能源政策中心(Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University)主任賈森·博爾多夫(Jason Bordoff)說。

Environmental issues, Mr. Birol said, are very important to emerging economies like India and China, whose cities are often plagued by choking smog.

比羅爾表示，環境問題對印度和中國等新興經濟體非常重要，這些國家的城市經常籠罩着令人窒息的霧霾。

Helping these countries solve problems through increasing energy efficiency or filtering out pollutants can make progress on climate change goals. We need to make these countries “understand that their problems are our problems,” Mr. Birol said.

幫助這些國家通過提高能源效率或過濾掉污染物的方式解決問題，有助於在氣候變化目標上取得進展。比羅爾說，我們需要讓這些國家“明白，它們的問題就是我們的問題”。

Mr. Birol appears to be well-suited to this approach. Born in Turkey, he obtained his doctorate in energy economics in Vienna and began his career as an analyst at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, the oil producers’ group, often seen as having an agenda rivaling the agency’s.

比羅爾似乎與這種處事方式非常合契。他出生於土耳其，在維也納取得能源經濟學博士學位後在產油國組成的石油輸出國組織(Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries)擔任分析師，開始了自己的職業生涯。石油輸出國組織的議程，通常被認爲與國際能源署的相悖。

Mr. Birol appears to be pushing to make the agency crucial in coordinating a global approach to energy-related efforts. This includes carrying out the global emissions reduction agreement reached in Paris last year. “The world needs a global energy body,” said Neil Hirst, a senior policy fellow at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College in London.

比羅爾似乎正在推動國際能源署在協調以一種全球性的方式開展能源相關行動上發揮重要作用。這包括執行去年在巴黎達成的全球減排協議。“世界需要一個全球性的能源機構，”倫敦帝國學院格蘭瑟姆研究所(Grantham Institute at Imperial College)高級政策研究員尼爾·赫斯特(Neil Hirst)說。

Mr. Birol said that through relatively low-cost actions, like adopting more ambitious clean air standards and more effective policies for monitoring and enforcement, countries could make major strides in reducing pollution over the next quarter-century.

比羅爾表示，在接下來的四分之一世紀裏，通過成本相對較低的行動，如採用更有魄力的清潔空氣標準和更有效的監督與執法政策，相關國家可在減少污染方面取得重大進展。

China, for instance, needs to retire polluting coal-fired power plants and to establish stricter standards for motor vehicles.

比如，中國須關停煤電廠，並建立更嚴格的機動車標準。

Such changes could produce big benefits. In India, the proportion of the population exposed to a high concentration of fine particles, a type of pollution, would fall to below 20 percent in 2040, from 60 percent today. In China, it would drop to below one quarter, from well over one half.

這類改革可能會帶來巨大的好處。到2040年，印度接觸高濃度細顆粒物這種污染的人口比例，將從現在的60%下降至20%以下。在中國，這個比例將從現在的遠超一半下降至不到四分之一。