During last year’s campaign, President Joe Biden argued that the “United States must lead the world to take on the existential threat we face—climate change.” I agree. Although COVID-19 will rightfully continue to dominate the agenda, the President and Congress also have the opportunity to lead the world in avoiding a climate disaster.在去年的竞选活动中，总统乔·拜登称“美国必须领导世界来应对我们面临的生存威胁——气候变化”。我同意这一点。虽然按道理讲，新冠肺炎将继续主导议程，但总统和国会也有机会领导世界避免气候灾难。
I’ve learned from my work at Microsoft and in philanthropy that the best way to encourage others to take action is to start by doing it yourself. President Biden has already taken an important first step by rejoining the Paris climate accord. Now the United States can build on that step by adopting a concrete plan that checks several boxes at once: eliminating emissions while adapting to the warming that is already happening, spurring innovative industries, creating jobs for the post-pandemic recovery, and ensuring that everyone benefits from the transition to a green economy. (This plan is a key part of my upcoming book about climate change. And I’ll be writing about the last point—the transition to a green economy—here on the Gates Notes in the next few months.)我从在微软和慈善事业的工作中学习到，鼓励他人采取行动的最佳方法是从自己做起。通过重新加入巴黎气候协定，拜登总统已经迈出了重要的第一步。现在美国可以在此基础上更进一步，方式是采纳一项一石多鸟的具体计划，从而在适应业已发生的气候变暖的同时消除排放，激励创新产业，为大流行后的复苏创造就业机会，以及确保所有人都受益于向绿色经济的过渡中。（该计划是我即将出版新书的一个关键部分，这本书讲的是气候变化。在接下来的几个月里，我将围绕最后一点——向绿色经济过渡——撰写更多内容分享在这个公众号上。）
In the 15 years that I’ve been learning about and investing in clean energy, I’ve benefited from many discussions with scientists, policy experts, and elected leaders from across the political spectrum, in the United States and around the world. Drawing on those conversations, here are four ways that America and other countries can advance their leadership on climate change this year and put the world on a path to zero emissions by 2050.在学习和投资清洁能源的15年中，我从与美国和世界各地的科学家、政策专家和不同政治派别领导人的许多讨论中获益良多。借鉴这些谈话的内容，我在这里介绍四条途径，通过这些途径，美国和其他国家可以在今年提高气候变化方面的领导力，并让世界走上通向2050年前实现零排放的道路。
Increase the supply of innovation
We need breakthroughs in the way we generate and store clean electricity, grow food, make things, move around, and heat and cool our buildings, so we can do all these things without adding more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. We have some of the tools we need, like solar and wind power, but far from all of them. And we won’t develop new tools without a dramatic infusion of investment and focus from the federal government.我们需要在生产和储存清洁电力、种植食物、制造、交通和为建筑供暖和降温的方法上取得突破，从而使我们可以在不向大气排放更多温室气体的情况下完成所有这些事。我们已拥有一些所需的工具，例如太阳能和风能，但远非所有。在缺乏巨大资金投入和联邦政府关注的情况下，我们将无法得到新的工具。
Just how dramatic? I estimate that federal spending on clean-energy research and development needs to go up fivefold—an increase that would put it on equal footing with health research. And it would be a key first step in creating more than 370,000 jobs as well.投资需要有多巨大？我估计，联邦政府在清洁能源研究和开发方面的支出需要增加五倍，这一增长将使其与健康方面的研究处于同等位置。而这也会成为创造37万多个就业岗位的关键性第一步。
But this is not simply about throwing more money at the problem. We also need to make sure the government is set up to avoid duplication and make the best use of these resources. That’s why we should create the National Institutes of Energy Innovation.但这并非像朝这个问题砸更多钱这么简单。我们还需要确保政府被组织起来，从而避免重复并以最佳方式利用这些资源。这就是为什么我们应该创建美国国家能源创新研究院。
This NIEI should be modeled on the phenomenally successful National Institutes for Health. For example, just like NIH, it would consist of various institutes focused on specific areas. An Institute of Transportation Decarbonization would be responsible for work on low-carbon fuels. Other institutes would have similar responsibilities and authority for research on energy storage, renewables, and so on.该研究院应该以非常成功的美国国家卫生研究院为原型。例如，像后者一样，它将由专注于特定领域的不同研究所组成。一个交通脱碳研究所将负责低碳燃料的研究，其他机构也会在能源贮存、可再生能源等领域有类似的责任和权利。
If I could pick just one thing that the U.S. could do to lead the world in technological innovations for clean energy, this would be it.如果我只能选择一件美国可以在清洁能源技术创新方面领导世界的事，那就是这件事。
Increase the demand for innovation
I learned the hard way at Microsoft that simply making a great product doesn’t guarantee that you will beat the competition. Sometimes there’s just not enough demand for what you’re selling.在微软经历了惨痛的教训后，我明白仅仅制造出一款优质的产品并不能保证你会赢得竞争——有时只是因为对你所售商品缺乏足够的需求。
The lesson for climate change is that we can’t avoid a climate disaster through technological innovation alone. We also need policy innovations to make sure that scientists’ breakthroughs make it from the lab to the market, and that they’re affordable enough for developing countries as well as rich ones.这对于气候变化的教训是：我们不能仅靠技术创新来避免气候灾难。我们还需要政策创新，以确保科学家的突破能从实验室走向市场，并且这些突破对于发展中国家和富裕国家而言都是可以负担的。
That means doing things like setting standards for how much electricity or fuel must come from zero-carbon options. Governments can also use their procurement power to create demand for cleaner options—for example, buying only electric buses, as the city of Shenzhen, China has done. They can build the infrastructure that allows for green options: charging stations for electric vehicles, or new transmission lines to deliver clean energy from the places where it’s generated to the places where it’s consumed.这意味着要做一些事情，例如设置标准来规定多少电力或燃料必须来自零碳能源。政府还可以利用其购买力来创造对更清洁选择的需求，例如只采购电动公交车，就像中国深圳已经在做的。他们可以建立支持绿色能源的基础设施，比如电动汽车充电站，或者将清洁电力从生产端送到消费端的新的输电线路。
Finally, governments can level the playing field so it’s easier for clean alternatives to compete on price.最后，政府可以建立公平的竞争环境，从而使清洁替代品更容易在价格上具有竞争优势。
The problem is that right now, products that cause emissions aren’t priced to reflect the environmental damage they cause. They should be. Carbon taxes and cap-and-trade programs are two ways to solve this problem.如今的问题是，造成碳排放的产品定价，并没有反映出其对环境的损害。它们理应被这样定价。碳税和碳排放限额交易计划是解决此问题的两种方法。
The idea isn’t to punish people for their greenhouse gases. It’s to create incentives for inventors to create competitive carbon-free alternatives and for consumers to buy them.这个想法不是要因人们排放温室气体而惩罚他们，而是为了激励发明者创造出具有竞争力的无碳替代品，并鼓励消费者购买它们。
Climate change is the definition of a global issue. Temperatures won’t stop going up in Texas unless emissions stop going up in India (and temperatures in India won’t stop going up until emissions stop going up in Texas).气候变化是一个典型的全球问题。除非印度的排放量停止上升，否则美国得克萨斯州的温度不会停止上升（同理在得州排放停止上升前，印度的温度也不会停止上升）。
That is why governments need to work together to develop common goals, share knowledge, and make sure that clean technologies developed in one country will spread quickly to others. This cooperation can happen on a bilateral basis—between two countries talking directly to each other—as well as among many governments through venues like the United Nations and Mission Innovation.这就是为什么政府需要合作制定共同的目标、分享知识，以及确保在一国开发的清洁技术能够迅速传播到其他国家。这种合作既可以在双边（即两国间直接对话）基础上进行，又可以通过联合国和“创新使命”等渠道在多个政府间进行。（译注：“创新使命”计划始于2015年11月30日在巴黎举行的第21届联合国气候变化大会，全球领导人在会上郑重承诺发展和促进清洁能源，并在此后每年举办清洁能源部长级会议。）
To see why this is so important, look at the global growth of the nuclear energy industry. Today, most of the world’s nuclear reactors are based on American technology. Why? Because after World War II, the United States led an international effort to develop and deploy this breakthrough energy source. It collaborated on R&D with a range of international partners, making it possible for American firms to license technology to them, export equipment to them, and sell them nuclear fuel. And today, policymakers across the federal government—from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to the State Department—work together to advance the global deployment of nuclear energy.想要了解为什么这如此重要，可以看看核能领域的全球增长。如今，世界上大多数的核反应堆都基于美国技术。为什么？因为在第二次世界大战之后，美国领导了开发和部署这一突破性能源的国际行动。美国与许多国际伙伴在研发上展开合作，使美国公司得以向合作伙伴授予技术许可、出口设备和销售核燃料。现如今，联邦政府各部门的政策制定者，从核能管理委员会到国务院，都在合作推进在全球部署核能。
We need a similar approach to clean-energy breakthroughs.Prepare for a warming world.
We’re already seeing the impact of climate change. So even as we develop and deploy ways to prevent future warming, we also need to adapt to the effects that higher temperatures are having around the world.我们已经看到气候变化的影响。因此，即使我们已经在开发和部署防止未来气候变暖的方法，我们同时还需要适应更高的温度正给世界造成的影响。
Countries will need to invest in climate-proofing infrastructure to cope with more severe weather and rising sea levels. This includes upgrading electrical grids, expanding storm water drainage systems, and building or expanding seawalls. And two of the best ways for wealthy countries to help low- and middle-income ones is to invest in primary health care and make sure smallholder farmers can grow enough food to feed everyone.各国将需要投资可以抵御气候变化的基础设施，用来应对更恶劣的天气及不断上升的海平面。这包括升级电网、扩大雨水排放系统，以及建造或扩大防波堤。而富裕国家帮助中低收入国家的两个最佳方法，是投资初级卫生保健和确保小农户能够种植足够的食物来养活所有人。
The Global Commission on Adaptation, which I co-chair along with Ban Ki-Moon and Kristalina Georgieva, has published a number of evidence-based recommendations. I encourage you to check out the commission’s work.由我与潘基文和克里斯塔利娜·格奥尔基耶娃共同担任主席的全球气候适应委员会，已经发布了一些基于证据的建议。我鼓励你去了解一下这个委员会的工作。
To be sure, governments aren’t the only ones who need to act across all four areas. Businesses, philanthropists, and individuals can also play a pivotal role by advocating for these policies, investing in low-emissions solutions, paying the Green Premiums when they can, and more. I’ll be writing more about these areas in future posts, and they’re covered in How to Avoid a Climate Disaster as well.可以肯定的是，并非只有政府需要在以上所有四个领域采取行动。企业、慈善家和普通人也可以通过倡导这些政策、投资低排放的解决方案、在可能的情况下支付绿色溢价等更多方式来发挥关键作用。我将在以后的文章中撰写更多关于这些方面的内容——这些话题也在《如何避免气候灾难》这本书中被论及。
I see promise in 2021. The next major U.N. Summit on climate change—to be hosted by the United Kingdom in November—is an opportunity for countries around the world, including the U.S., to showcase their leadership on this urgent problem. If they want to lead by doing, the four steps laid out here are a good place to start.我在2021年看到了希望。下一次的重要联合国气候变化峰会（将在11月由英国主办）对包括美国在内的世界各国来说，都是一个展示各自在这一紧迫问题上领导力的机会。如果它们想要用行动来领导，以上介绍的四步会是一个良好的开端。
