Asian governments are the biggest backers of the filthiest fuel

亚洲政府是最肮脏的燃料的最大支持者

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Even as private investors are shunning coal, states are throwing cash at it.

即使私人投资者正在躲避煤炭，政府却向它砸去现金。

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In the dense gloom about climate change, news of coal’s decline seems like a pinprick of hope.

在有关气候变化的浓密阴霾中，煤炭减产的消息似乎充满了希望。

President Donald Trump may adore “beautiful, clean coal”, but even he cannot save it.

唐纳德特朗普总统可能会喜欢“漂亮，干净的煤炭”，但即使他也无法拯救它。

A growing number of countries want to phase out coal entirely, a transition eased by cheap natural gas and the plunging cost of wind and solar power.

越来越多的国家希望逐渐淘汰煤炭，这一转化过程因廉价的天然气，风能和太阳能发电成本的暴跌而有所缓解。

That is good news. Coal has been the largest engine of climate change to date, accounting for nearly a third of the rise in average temperatures since the Industrial Revolution. Any pressure on it therefore counts as progress.

这是个好消息。 到目前为止，煤炭一直是气候变化的最大引擎，占工业革命以来平均气温上升的近三分之一。 因此，对它的施与的任何压力都算作进步。

However, last year coal-fired electricity emitted more than ten gigatonnes of carbon dioxide for the first time, 30% of the world’s total. It may be in decline in the West, but many Asian governments continue to promote coal-fired power generation. They are making a dangerous bet.

然而，去年燃煤电量首次排放超过10亿吨二氧化碳，占世界总量的30％。 西方国家可能正在衰退，但许多亚洲国家政府继续推动燃煤发电。 他们正在进行危险的赌注。

Asia accounts for 75% of the world’s coal demand—China alone consumes half of it.

亚洲占世界煤炭需求的75％ - 仅中国就消耗了其中的一半。

The Chinese government has taken steps to limit pollution and support renewables.

中国政府已采取措施限制污染和支持可再生能源。

Yet coal consumption there rose in 2018, as it did the year before.

然而，2018年的煤炭消费量与去年同期相比有所上升。

In India coal demand grew by 9% last year. In Vietnam it swelled by almost a quarter.

在印度，去年煤炭需求增长了9％。 在越南，它膨胀了将近四分之一。

To keep the rise in global temperatures to no more than 1.5°C relative to pre-industrial times, climatologists insist that almost all coal plants must shut by 2050, which means starting to act now. 

为了使全球温度的上升相对于工业化前时间不超过1.5°C，气候学家坚持认为，到2050年，几乎所有的煤电厂都必须关闭，这意味着现在开始采取行动。

Today’s trends would keep the last coal plant open until 2079, estimates ubs, a bank. Asia’s coal-fired power regiment has a sprightly average age of 15, compared with a creaky 40 years in America, close to retirement.

据银行估计，今天的趋势将使最后一家煤电厂开放至2079年。 亚洲的燃煤发电团的平均年龄平均为15岁，相比之下，接近退休的美国40岁时岌岌可危。

In Vietnam it swelled by almost a quarter. To keep the rise in global temperatures to no more than 1.5°C relative to pre-industrial times, climatologists insist that almost all coal plants must shut by 2050, which means starting to act now.

.在越南，它膨胀了将近四分之一。 为了使全球温度的上升相对于工业化前时间不超过1.5°C，气候学家坚持认为，到2050年，几乎所有的煤电厂都必须关闭，这意味着现在开始采取行动。

There are several reasons for this, but one stands out: government support. In India state-owned companies invest more than $6bn in coal mining and coal-fired power each year; state-backed banks provide some $10.6bn in financing.

这有几个原因，但其中一个突出：政府支持。 在印度，国有企业每年投资60多亿美元用于采煤和燃煤发电; 国家支持的银行提供约106亿美元的融资。

Indonesia doles out more than $2bn annually for consumption of coal-fired power. China supports coal not just at home but abroad, supplying about $9.5bn a year in foreign funding. Japan and South Korea finance coal projects outside their borders, too.

印度尼西亚每年用于燃煤发电的消费超过20亿美元。 中国不仅在国内而且在国外支持煤炭，每年为外国资金提供约95亿美元的资金。 日本和韩国也在境外为煤炭项目提供资金。

Government support is hardly surprising. State-backed coal firms make money and create jobs. Wind turbines and solar panels provide power only intermittently; for now, dirtier power plants are needed as back up.

政府的支持并不令人惊讶。 国家支持的煤炭公司赚钱并创造就业机会。 风力涡轮机和太阳能电池板仅间歇性地提供电力; 目前，需要更脏的发电厂备份。

Gas is pummelling coal in America, but remains a bit-player in India and much of South-East Asia, since it has to be imported and is relatively expensive.

天然气在美国正在“肆虐”煤炭，但在印度和东南亚大部分地区仍然是煤炭，因为它必须要进口并且相对昂贵。

Disentangling coal from the region’s economies is difficult.

解决该地区经济中的煤炭问题非常困难。

Indonesian coal companies are a powerful lobby; not coincidentally, power tariffs favour coal over wind and solar projects.

印尼煤炭公司是一个强大的游说团体，偶然的是，能源税对比起风能和太阳能项目更对煤炭有所倾斜。

In India coal subsidises passenger fees on railways. And heavy lending by state-owned banks has tied the health of the financial system to that of the coal industry.

在印度，煤炭补贴铁路客运费。 国有银行的大量贷款将金融体系的健康与煤炭行业的健康联系在一起。

Nevertheless, governments betting on coal face three big risks. 

然而，投资煤炭的政府面临三大风险。

One is environmental. Emissions from coal plants that are already built—let alone new ones—will ensure that the world exceeds the level of carbon-dioxide emissions likely to push global temperatures up by more than 1.5°C.

一是环保。 除去新燃煤电厂，已经建成的燃煤电厂的排放将确保地球超过二氧化碳排放水平，可能将全球温度推升1.5摄氏度。

There is an economic risk, too. Public-sector zeal for coal is matched only by private-sector distaste.

二是经济风险。 公共部门对煤炭的热枕只与私营部门的厌恶相匹配。

Banks, including Asian ones, have increasingly said they will stop funding new coal plants. Wind and solar farms make coal look increasingly expensive. 

包括亚洲银行在内的银行越来越多地表示将停止为新的燃煤电厂提供资金。 风能和太阳能农场使煤炭看起来越来越昂贵。

A study has found that private banks provided three-quarters of loans to Indian renewables projects last year; state-backed banks doled out two-thirds of those for coal.

一项研究发现，去年私人银行向印度可再生能源项目提供了四分之三的贷款; 国有银行发放了三分之二给煤炭。

And then there is politics. Voters do not like breathing soot.

三是政治。 选民不喜欢呼吸烟尘。

 More of them are concerned about climate change, too, as they face unpredictable growing seasons, floods and droughts.

他们中的更多人也关注气候变化，因为他们面临着不可预测的耕作季节，洪水和干旱。

Promisingly, more Asian politicians are voicing support for clean power. 

有希望的是，更多的亚洲政客正在表达对清洁能源的支持。

In July Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines’ president, instructed his energy minister to reduce his country’s dependence on coal. In June India’s government said it planned to have 500 gigawatts of renewable power by 2030.

7月，菲律宾总统罗德里戈·杜特尔特指示他的能源部长减少他的国家对煤炭的依赖。 今年6月，印度政府表示计划到2030年增加500千兆瓦的可再生能源。

But to speed the transition, governments in Asia and elsewhere must do more.

但为了加速转型，亚洲和其他地方的政府必须做得更多。

Politicians should move faster to reduce state support for coal. Rich countries should find ways to help. 

政治家应该加快行动，减少国家对煤炭的支持。发达国家应该想方法去协助。

Middle-income countries in Asia would be right to point out that wealthier counterparts used coal to fuel their own growth and that America, Britain, Germany and Japan are among those that continue to support coal, for instance through tax breaks and budgetary transfers (and imports from coal-powered Asia).

亚洲的中等收入国家应该指出，较富裕的国家使用煤炭来推动自身增长，而美国，英国，德国和日本则是那些继续支持煤炭的国家，例如通过税收减免和预算转移（和 从煤炭亚洲进口）。

Abandoning coal in Asia may require diplomacy on a scale that few governments are ready to contemplate. But abandon coal they must.

没几个亚洲各国会准备考虑放弃煤炭所需的大规模外交。但他们必须放弃煤炭。