Urgent Climate Action: A Choice We Can — And Must — Make
采取紧急气候行动：我们能够作出而且必须作出的一项抉择

by António Guterres
安东尼奥•古特雷斯

“Save Tuvalu; save the world.”
“拯救图瓦卢；拯救世界。”

This is the rallying cry I heard on my recent visit to Tuvalu, a stop on my Pacific tour to the frontlines of the global climate emergency.
I was there to show solidarity with those suffering the worst impacts of climate change and to draw attention to the innovative climate action underway in the region.

这是我最近访问图瓦卢时听到的呼声——我在太平洋之行期间前往全球气候紧急状况的第一线，图瓦卢是其中的一站。

我去那里是为了声援那些遭受气候变化影响最严重的人们，并提请关注该区域正在采取的创新气候行动。

Sea-level rise in some Pacific countries is four times greater than the global average, posing an existential threat to several island States. Oceans are in serious trouble, from coral bleaching to biodiversity loss to plastic pollution. Extreme weather events are on the rise, jeopardizing lives and livelihoods.

一些太平洋国家的海平面上升幅度是全球平均水平的五倍，对一些岛国构成生存威胁。海洋陷入严重困境，从珊瑚礁白化到生物多样性丧失再到塑料污染，不一而足。极端天气事件呈上升趋势，危及生命和民生。

Nowhere have I seen the heartbreaking impacts of climate change more starkly than in Tuvalu, a remote coral atoll nation where the highest point is less than 5 metres above sea level. I visited the home of a family who live in a state of perpetual anxiety about inundation by the relentless rising seas just steps away.

我亲眼目睹了气候变化造成的种种更令人心碎的影响，其中图瓦卢的情况最为严峻，在这个地处偏远、由珊瑚环礁组成的国家，最高海拔不到5米。我探访了一户人家，他们生活在无休无止的焦虑中，担心被仅有几步之遥、不断上涨的汹涌海水所淹没。

I was deeply moved by the warmth of the Tuvaluan people and their intense devotion to their land, way of life and cultural heritage. These communities have contributed almost nothing to climate change -- yet, because of big emitters, they are now fighting to preserve their country’s very existence.

图瓦卢人民的热情和他们对自己的土地、生活方式和文化传承的挚爱让我深受感动。这些社区对气候变化几乎没有任何责任，然而，由于排放大国的原因，他们在为救国图存而奋斗。
切莫误解：这不只是攸关图瓦卢、小岛屿或太平洋，而是攸关整个地球。这些国家目前发生的情况昭示着我们其他人将来的遭遇。在世界各地，人们已感受到气候紧急状况的影响——这种影响只会加剧。

Make no mistake: it’s not just Tuvalu or small islands or the Pacific at stake. It is the whole planet. What is happening to these countries is a sign of what is in store for the rest of us. People all over the world are starting to feel the impacts of the climate emergency – and these will only worsen.

在图瓦卢，我遇到一些儿童，他们年纪轻轻却已对自己的未来忧心忡忡，他们依赖我们这一代人来保障他们的未来。

In Tuvalu, I met children who, though young, are already fearful for their future and relying on my generation to secure it.
 
作为联合国秘书长，我要进行许多战斗。但身为一名祖父，这场治理气候变化的苦战是我人生最重要的一战。

As Secretary-General of the United Nations I have many battles. But as a grandfather, the struggle against climate change is the fight of my life.
 
很遗憾，这是一场我们尚未打赢的战斗。
我们若要取得胜利，就必须凝聚政治意愿，采取变革措施。

Unfortunately, it is one we are not winning.
If we are to prevail, then we must find the political will to take transformative measures.
 
我们必须承认，太平洋国家在与气候紧急状况的竞赛中是领跑者，它们拥有道德权威。我们必须提出可持续的气候解决方案，投资于可再生能源，提高复原力和适应力。

We must acknowledge the moral authority of the Pacific nations, frontrunners in the race against the climate emergency.  And we must find sustainable climate solutions, invest in renewable energies, and increase resilience and adaptation.
 
一定要实现科学界明确提出的目标：到2050年实现碳中性；到本世纪末将全球升温限制在1.5摄氏度。

It is essential that the goals laid out clearly by the scientific community are achieved: carbon neutrality by 2050 and limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.

在国际社会努力实现这些目标之际，我向各国政府发出了明确的讯息。

My message to governments as the global community pursues those goals is clear, therefore.

First, shift taxes from salaries to carbon. We should tax pollution, not people.
 
Second, stop subsidizing fossil fuels. Taxpayers’ money should not be used to boost hurricanes, spread drought and heat waves, and melt glaciers.

首先，从工资税转向碳排放税。我们应该对污染征税，而不是对人民征税。
第二，停止化石燃料补贴。纳税人的钱不应用来导致更多飓风、传播干旱和热浪以及融化冰川。

Third, stop building new coal plants by 2020. We need a green economy, not a grey economy.
 
What we need is a rapid and deep change in how we do business, generate power, build cities and feed the world.

第三，到2020年停止修建新的燃煤电厂。我们需要的是绿色经济，而不是灰色经济。
我们需要做的是，快速而深刻地改变我们处理事务、发电、建设城市和养活世界人口的方式。

The last decade has shown that we have the tools to tackle the climate crisis.  We can save lives and property, breathe less polluted air, access cleaner water and protect biodiversity. Climate action could also yield a direct economic gain of $26 trillion compared to business as usual through 2030, making it a cost-effective option.
 
过去十年表明，我们拥有应对气候危机的工具。我们可以挽救生命财产，呼吸污染较少的空气，获得更清洁的饮水，保护生物多样性。与因循旧章相比，气候行动还可产生价值26万亿美元的直接经济收益，使之成为一个具有成本效益的选项。

I am convening a Climate Action Summit at the United Nations in September to mobilize political ambition and accelerate achievement of the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement. I am asking leaders to come not just with speeches but with plans to transform energy, mobility, industry and agriculture. I am asking for implementation of commitments to climate financing, not out of generosity but enlightened self-interest.
　　
我将于9月在联合国召开一次气候行动峰会，以期振奋政治雄心，加快实现 2015年通过的《巴黎协定》中的目标。我请各国领导人在与会时既要带上讲话稿，还要带上能源、交通、工业和农业的变革计划。我在此要求履行气候融资承诺，这些承诺并非出于慷慨，而是出于对自身利益的明智考虑。

Urgent climate action is a choice we can -- and must -- make. As the people of Tuvalu know all too well: saving them will save us all.

紧急气候行动是我们能够作出而且必须作出的一项抉择。图瓦卢人民清楚地认识到：拯救他们就是拯救我们所有人。

 

来源：联合国官网

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