Nissan and Honda are in exploratory talks about a merger of the two carmakers that would create a $52bn Japanese behemoth, said people briefed on the matter.

据知情人士透露，日产和本田正在就两家汽车制造商的合并进行探索性谈判，这将创造一个520亿美元的日本巨头。

Shares in Nissan surged more than 22 per cent in early trading in Tokyo on Wednesday, on expectations that a deal would put a healthy premium on the company. Honda’s stock dropped as much as 3 per cent.

周三东京早盘交易中，日产的股价飙升超过22%，市场预期协议将为公司带来可观的溢价。本田的股价则下跌了3%。

The talks are at an early stage, and there are concerns about a possible political backlash in Japan because a merger of two of the country’s most storied car brands could result in significant job cuts, one of the people with knowledge of the discussions said.

据知情人士透露，谈判处于早期阶段，人们担心在日本可能会出现政治反弹，因为两家历史悠久的汽车品牌合并可能导致大规模裁员。

——本文2024年12月18日发布于FT中文网，英文原题为 Nissan and Honda hold merger talks

The global economy is losing up to $25tn a year because sectors such as agriculture, energy and fishing fail to account for how their actions fuel interconnected crises in nature, climate and human health, a landmark international biodiversity science policy report found.  

一份具有里程碑意义的国际生物多样性科学政策报告发现，由于农业、能源和渔业等部门未能考虑到其如何加剧自然、气候和人类健康的相互关联危机，全球经济每年损失高达25万亿美元。

The failure to tackle biodiversity loss, climate change, water scarcity, food insecurity and health risks in isolation was not only compounding those issues but also driving spiralling economic costs, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) said. The body established by 94 countries is the equivalent of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, bringing together authoritative global agreement on science.

生物多样性和生态系统服务政府间科学政策平台(IPBES)表示，如果不能单独解决生物多样性丧失、气候变化、水资源短缺、粮食不安全和健康风险等问题，不仅会加剧这些问题，还会导致经济成本不断攀升。这个由94个国家建立的机构相当于政府间气候变化专门委员会(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)，汇集了全球权威的科学共识。

“By treating these as individual problems, we are wasting money, we’re duplicating efforts,” Pam McElwee of Rutgers University and a co-author of the report. “And if we were actually able to bring policy sectors together, there would be significant cost savings.”

“将这些问题视为单独的问题，我们是在浪费金钱，重复劳动。”该报告的共同作者之一罗格斯大学的帕姆•麦克尔维(Pam McElwee)说，“如果我们能够真正把政策部门联合起来，就能节省大量成本。”

——本文2024年12月18日发布于FT中文网，英文原题为 Biodiversity hit to economies estimated at up to $25tn a year in landmark report

North America’s electricity grid faces “critical reliability challenges” as power generation fails to keep pace with surging demand from artificial intelligence, the industry watchdog has warned.

行业监管机构警告称，北美(North America)的电网面临“关键的可靠性挑战”，因为发电未能跟上人工智能带来的激增需求。

Soaring electricity consumption in the next decade, coupled with the closure of coal-fired plants, will place huge strain on US and Canadian grids, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation has found.

北美电力可靠性公司(North American Electric Reliability Corporation)发现，未来十年电力消耗的飙升，加上燃煤电厂的关闭，将对美国和加拿大的电网造成巨大压力。

The shortfall could cause blackouts during peak demand periods in both countries, and will be worsened by delays in adding solar generation capacity, batteries and hybrid resources to the grid, according to NERC.

根据北美电力可靠性公司(NERC)的说法，电力短缺可能会在两国的高峰需求期导致停电，而增加太阳能发电能力、电池和混合资源接入电网的延迟将使情况更加恶化。

——本文2024年12月18日发布于FT中文网，英文原题为 AI poses threat to North American electricity grid, watchdog warns

Major industrial and fossil fuel companies including Shell, BP and Tata Steel are among those calling on European politicians to consider forcing consumers to buy less polluting products, arguing that such action is needed to boost investment in the energy transition.

壳牌(Shell)、英国石油(BP)和塔塔钢铁(Tata Steel)等大型工业和化石燃料公司呼吁欧洲政界人士考虑强制消费者购买污染较少的产品，并认为需要采取此类行动来促进能源转型投资。

In a letter to the European Commission, published on Wednesday, they say companies trying to invest in production methods that may result in lower carbon emissions are “pricing themselves out of the market” due to high costs, and authorities need to step in to create demand for their products.

在周三发表的致欧盟委员会的一封信中，这些公司称，由于成本高昂，试图投资于可降低碳排放的生产方法的公司正在“被排除在市场之外”，因此当局需要介入，以创造对其产品的需求。

“We will need to focus on demand creation to achieve new investment prospects,” they said in a letter to Wopke Hoekstra, EU climate commissioner, warning of an “industrial exodus” without intervention.

他们在给欧盟气候专员沃普克•霍克斯特拉(Wopke Hoekstra)的信中表示：“我们需要把重点放在创造需求上，以实现新的投资前景。”并警告说，如果不进行干预，将会出现“产业外流”。

——本文2024年12月18日发布于FT中文网，英文原题为 EU should force customers to buy less polluting products, companies say