Message from Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the Occasion of the World Water Day

联合国教科文组织总干事伊琳娜·博科娃在世界水日的致辞

 

22 March, 2015

2015年3月22日

 

This year, World Water Day carries on the theme of ‘Water and Sustainable Development,’ providing an essential opportunity to highlight the role of freshwater in the sustainable development agenda that States are shaping to follow 2015.

 

今年世界水日的主题是“水与可持续发展”，它是彰显淡水在各国正在制定的2015年后可持续发展议程中的作用的一次绝佳机会。

 

This is a moment to chart a new course – to change practices and actions that favour development at a significant environmental and social cost, including pollution, deforestation, loss of biodiversity and growing urban deprivation. Current trends in consumption show that there will be insufficient water in general, and quality water in particular, to meet the world’s growing needs without dramatically changing the way these finite resources are used, managed and shared. In the face of competing demands, neglecting this fact will lead to increasingly difficult decisions to allocate water resources. The risk of localized conflicts cannot be overlooked in such a scenario.

 

这是制定新航线的契机。我们应当改变以高昂的环境和社会代价促进发展的做法和行动，包括污染、毁林、生物多样性的丧失和日益增长的城市赤贫。目前的消费趋势表明，总体而言，如果不彻底改变这种有限资源的使用、管理和分享方式，水，特别是优质水，将难以满足世界日益增长的需求。面对各种竞争性需求，无视这一事实将导致分配水资源的决策愈加艰难。在这一背景下不可忽视地方冲突的风险。

 

We need concrete steps towards achieving sustainability at the global scale, in order to curb the rate at which the climate is changing. Water-related disasters have become the most economically and socially destructive of all natural hazards, disproportionately affecting women, poor and disadvantaged people and fuelling poverty.

 

我们需要在全球层面实现可持续性的具体步骤，以便遏制气候变化的速度。与水有关的灾害已成为所有自然灾害中对经济和社会破坏最大的，严重影响妇女、穷人和弱势群体并加剧贫穷。

 

In 2015, building on the experience of the Millennium Development Goals, States will craft a new and ambitious global development agenda and set action-oriented Sustainable Development Goals. The development of science, technology and innovation must have a central place in this new agenda. This will allow for modern assessments of water resources based on sound information systems and management approaches and it will also provide the foundation to move towards sustainable patterns of production and consumption.

 

2015年，各国将借鉴千年发展目标的经验制定雄心勃勃的全球发展新议程，并设定注重行动的可持续发展目标。科技和创新发展在这一新议程中必须占据核心位置。这样便可以在可靠的信息系统和管理方法的基础上开展现代的水资源评估，并为实现可持续模式的生产和消费奠定基础。

 

UNESCO is committed to advancing these goals across the board, drawing on its unique ‘water family,’ including our International Hydrological Programme, the Institute for Water Education in Delft, the World Water Assessment Programme in Perugia, as well as UNESCO centres and Chairs specialized in water around the globe. 2015 must be become the year for the international community to enshrine the importance of capacity enhancement and sharing good practices in water to build the future we want for all.

 

教科文组织承诺全面推动这些目标，并将利用其独特的“水家庭”，包括我们的国际水文计划、设在代尔夫特的水教育研究所、设在佩鲁贾的世界水资源评估计划以及世界各地专精于水问题的教科文组织中心和教席。国际社会在2015年必须铭记在水领域加强能力和分享良好做法的重要性，这样才能构建我们所有人希望的未来。 

 

来源：UNESCO

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