美国国家公共电台 NPR--Countries hit hardest by climate change need much more money to prepare, U.N. says

Countries hit hardest by climate change need much more money to prepare, U.N. says

Transcript¹

Developing countries are going to need a lot more money to deal with the risks they face from climate change, according to a new United Nations report released on Thursday.

The impacts from global warming have hit the world's poorest countries especially hard so far, even though they're responsible for a relatively² small share of the greenhouse gasses that are causing temperatures to rise. Flooding in Pakistan this summer that killed at least 1,500 people and a multi-year drought in East Africa are evidence of "mounting and ever-increasing climate risks," the U.N. report says.

To help developing nations prepare for more extreme storms, heat waves and floods, industrialized countries gave them around $29 billion in 2020. But that's a fraction of what the developing world needs in order to reduce the damage from extreme weather events, the report says. By the end of the decade, developing countries will likely need up to about 10 times more money every year to adapt to a hotter planet. By midcentury, those annual costs could soar to more than $500 billion.

"The message of this report is clear: strong political will is needed to increase adaptation investments and outcomes," Inger Andersen, executive director of the U.N. Environment Programme, wrote in a foreword to the report.

"If we don't want to spend the coming decades in emergency response mode, dealing³ with disaster after disaster, we need to get ahead of the game," she added.

The U.N. published the report days before its annual climate conference starts in Egypt. In a separate report published last week, the U.N. said the world isn't cutting greenhouse gas emissions⁴ nearly enough to avoid potentially catastrophic sea level rise and other global dangers.

The U.N. climate negotiations⁵ scheduled to begin over the weekend in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh are the 27th Conference of the Parties, or COP27. They are expected to focus on efforts to boost the amount of money that's available to deal with climate change, especially in developing countries.

Most climate financing is going to cutting emissions

Industrialized nations still haven't delivered on a longstanding pledge to provide $100 billion a year by 2020 to help developing countries adapt to climate change and to cut emissions in order to limit further warming, or what's known as climate mitigation. Of the $83.3 billion developing countries received in 2020, most of the money went to mitigation projects, not adaptation, according to the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development.

"The discourse⁶ needs to be raised significantly, the level of ambition, so that you can actually continue to do what you're doing on mitigation even more, but you at the same time meet the adaptation needs," says Mafalda Duarte, CEO of Climate Investment Funds, which works with development banks like the World Bank to provide funding to developing countries on favorable terms.

To prepare for more extreme weather, the world needs to invest more money in projects to reduce the hazards, vulnerability and exposure that people face, the U.N. says. That could include building water reservoirs in areas at risk of drought, ensuring infrastructure⁷ is built to stand up to the impacts of a hotter climate, and providing communities with early warning systems to help people evacuate⁸ in emergencies.

At the end of last year's U.N. climate conference, developed countries were urged to at least double their funding for adaptation from 2019 levels by 2025. However, the U.N. says even that amount of money would be insufficient⁹ to address the needs that exist in developing nations to prepare for climate risk.

The U.N. also warned that issues unrelated to climate change, including worldwide inflation and the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, could limit how much money wealthier countries are willing to provide developing nations for adaptation.

Duarte says that failing to spend the money that's necessary to limit and prepare for climate change exposes the entire world to potential risks. Those risks could include armed conflicts, refugee crises and disruptions in financial markets, analysts¹⁰ say.

"We have to change our mindset and the way we think, because, actually, when it comes to climate, you know, an investment across borders in other places is a domestic investment," Duarte says.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

5 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

6 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

7 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

8 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

9 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

10 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。