奥巴马政府采取行动推动围绕新气候协议（预计于明天在巴黎达成）的艰难谈判取得突破，承诺出资8.6亿美元帮助贫困国家应对高温和猛烈暴风雨。科学家称，这两种极端天气可能会随着全球气温升高而加剧。
The Obama administration moved to unblock fraught negotiations on the new climate accord due to be struck in Paris tomorrow with an $860m pledge to help poor countries deal with the heatwaves and fierce storms scientists say are likely to intensify as global temperatures rise.
但是，昨日还远不清楚这则声明能不能扫除可能削弱18年来首份全球气候协议的一连串绊脚石。周二，各国部长为拿出修订后的协议草案而推敲至深夜，新文本较之前谈判代表们依据的48页版本缩短了近20页。
But it was far from clear yesterday if the announcement would resolve the slew of stumbling blocks that are threatening to weaken the first new global climate deal in 18 years. Ministers worked late into Tuesday night to produce a revised draft text of the agreement that was nearly 20 pages shorter than the 48-page document negotiators had previously been working on.
但是，主持巴黎气候大会的法国外交部长洛朗法比尤斯(Laurent Fabius)昨日承认，三大绊脚石仍然存在：富裕国家为帮助贫困国家应对气候变化而提供的资金规模和性质；该协议旨在达到的气温和排放目标；富裕国家应该继续带头抗击气候变化的程度。
But Laurent Fabius, France’s foreign minister, who is presiding over the Paris conference, conceded yesterday that three big stumbling blocks remained: the size and nature of the money wealthy countries would deliver to help poor nations deal with climate change; the temperature and emissions goals the agreement would aim to meet, and the extent to which rich countries should continue to lead efforts to combat climate change.
“我们已经取得进展，但是仍然需要完成很多工作，”法比尤斯在代表们准备彻夜拟定新文本时对他们表示。
“We have made progress but still a lot of work needs to be done,” Mr Fabius told delegates as they prepared to work through the night on a new text.
为了解决有争议的气候融资问题，美国国务卿约翰克里(John Kerry)宣布，到2020年美国将把其2014年为帮助脆弱国家适应气候变化风险而提供的4.3亿美元的公共拨款增加一倍。“我们不会让我们中间那些最易受危害的国家独自抵御暴风雨，”他在新闻发布会上表示。
In an attempt to resolve the contentious issue of climate finance, US secretary of state John Kerry announced that by 2020, the US would double the $430m of public grants it provided in 2014 to help vulnerable countries adapt to the risks climate change posed. “We will not leave the most vulnerable nations among us to weather the storms alone,” he told a news conference.
该声明旨在满足发展中国家的一个关键需求，涉及2009年富国承诺在2020年前每年筹措1000亿美元帮助穷国抗击全球变暖。
The announcement was aimed at meeting a key demand of developing countries in relation to a 2009 pledge by wealthy countries to mobilise $100bn a year by 2020 to help poor countries combat global warming.