Rooftops on new buildings built in commercial zones in France must either be partially covered in plants or solar panels, under a law approved on Thursday.
法國議會3月19日通過新法案，規定法國商業區的新建筑物屋頂須由植物或太陽能電池板部分覆蓋。

Green roofs have an isolating effect, helping reduce the amount of energy needed to heat a building in winter and cool it in summer.
綠色屋頂有隔離效果，能幫助減少建筑冬天加熱或夏天制冷所需的能量。

They also retain rainwater, thus helping reduce problems with runoff, while favoring biodiversity and giving birds a place to nest in the urban jungle, ecologists say.
生態學家稱，綠色屋頂還能貯存雨水，緩解地表徑流。不僅如此，綠色植物還有利于維護生物多樣性，為鳥類在市區內提供棲息之地。

The law approved by parliament was more limited in scope than initial calls by French environmental activists to make green roofs that cover the entire surface mandatory on all new buildings.
不過，此次通過的法案同環保人士的最初提議相比，范圍有所縮小。環保人士起初要求對境內所有新建筑物進行強制性“綠色”覆蓋。

The Socialist government convinced activists to limit the scope of the law to commercial buildings.
社會黨政府最終說服環保人士把適用范圍縮小到商業區建筑。

The law was also made less onerous for businesses by requiring only part of the roof to be covered with plants, and giving them the choice of installing solar panels to generate electricity instead.
此外，法案也給企業減少了麻煩。法案僅要求部分屋頂有植物覆蓋，并為他們提供了安裝太陽能電池板的選擇。

Green roofs are popular in Germany and Australia, and Canada’s city of Toronto adopted a by-law in 2009 mandating them in industrial and residential buildings.
在德國和澳大利亞，綠色屋頂都非常普遍。加拿大多倫多市2009年也曾通過一個條例，要求對工業和住宅建筑進行“綠色覆蓋”。

Vocabulary

runoff：徑流

Onerous：麻煩的

by-law：條例

（翻譯：李瑞玲SCNU 編輯：江巍）