双语:联合国秘书长潘基文2015年世界水日致辞

 　　Message on World Water Day

　　世界水日致辞

　　22 March 2015

　　2015年3月22日

　　This year, as the UN prepares to adopt a new post-2015 sustainable development agenda in September, World Water Day highlights the essential and interconnected role of water. We rely on water for public health and equitable¹ progress, it is essential for food and energy security, and it underpins² the functioning of industries.

　　今年，由于联合国将在9月通过一项新的2015年后可持续发展议程，世界水日便能突出表明水所发挥的重要和相互关联的作用。我们需要水来保障公共卫生和公平发展，水对于粮食和能源安全至关重要，而且水是各个行业运作的基础。

　　The onset³ of climate change, growing demand on finite water resources from agriculture, industry and cities, and increasing pollution in many areas are hastening a water crisis that can only be addressed by cross-sectoral, holistic⁴ planning and policies – internationally, regionally and globally.

　　气候变化的出现，农业、工业和城市对有限的水资源日益增长的需求，以及许多领域污染的扩大，均加速了水危机，这种危机只能通过国际、区域和全球跨部门的综合规划和政策才能解决。

　　Among the most urgent issues are access to safe drinking water and sanitation⁵. Despite progress under the Millennium⁶ Development Goals, adopted in 2000, some 750 million people – more than one in ten of the world’s population – remain without access to an improved water supply. Women and children, in particular, are affected⁷ by this lack, as not only is their health compromised, but considerable hours are wasted in the unproductive – and sometimes dangerous – business of collecting water.

　　获得安全饮用水和卫生设施是最需要解决的问题之一。尽管解决这方面问题在2000年通过的千年发展目标中已取得进展，约7.5亿人——换句话说，世界人口每10个人中有一个人以上——仍然无法获得经改善的水供应。妇女和儿童特别受到缺水的影响，她们不仅健康受到损害，而且取水这项非生产性、有时是危险的事情占去了她们相当多的时间。

　　The statistics on sanitation are even less encouraging. Some 2.5 billion people still live without improved sanitation, and a billion people practice open defecation, making sanitation the least successful area of the MDGs. We cannot achieve a world of dignity, health and prosperity for all until we address this urgent need.

　　卫生方面的统计数据就更加令人沮丧。大约25亿人仍然得不到经改善的卫生设施，有10亿人露天排便，使卫生成为千年发展目标中最不成功的领域。除非解决这一迫切需要的问题，我们无法实现人人享有尊严、健康和繁荣的世界。

　　Our sustainable future is also jeopardized⁸ by climate change, which is why United Nations Member States are working hard towards a meaningful, universal climate agreement this December in Paris. Over the coming years, greenhouse gas emissions⁹ will have to significantly decline in order to avert¹⁰ the worst impacts of climate change, which include changed weather patterns and the threat of water scarcity¹¹ in large parts of the world.

　　我们的可持续未来也受到气候变化的影响，这便是联合国会员国正致力于今年12月在巴黎达成一项有意义和普遍的气候协议的原因。在今后几年里，温室气体排放必须大大减少，才能避免气候变化造成最严重的影响，这种影响包括世界许多地区的天气模式发生变化，以及水资源短缺造成的威胁。

　　To address the many challenges related to water, we must work in a spirit of urgent cooperation, open to new ideas and innovation, and prepared to share the solutions that we all need for a sustainable future. If we do so, we can end poverty, promote global prosperity and well-being¹², protect the environment and withstand the threat of climate change.

　　为了应对与水有关的许多挑战，我们必须本着立即合作的精神，接受新的想法和创新，并愿意分享我们都需要的解决办法，以实现一个可持续的未来。只有这样，我们才能结束贫穷，促进全球繁荣和福祉，保护环境和抵御气候变化的威胁。

1 equitable   

adj.公平的；公正的

参考例句：

• This is an equitable solution to the dispute. 这是对该项争议的公正解决。
• Paying a person what he has earned is equitable. 酬其应得,乃公平之事。

2 underpins   

n.基础材料( underpin的名词复数 )；基础结构；（学说、理论等的）基础；（人的）腿v.用砖石结构等从下面支撑（墙等）( underpin的第三人称单数 )；加固（墙等）的基础；为（论据、主张等）打下基础；加强

参考例句：

• A powerful sense of mission underpins everything he does. 一种强烈的使命感支撑他所做的一切。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His presence at the crime underpins the case against him. 案子发生时他在场对他更不利。 来自辞典例句

3 onset   

n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始

参考例句：

• The drug must be taken from the onset of the infection.这种药必须在感染的最初期就开始服用。
• Our troops withstood the onset of the enemy.我们的部队抵挡住了敌人的进攻。

4 holistic   

adj.从整体着眼的，全面的

参考例句：

• There is a fundamental ambiguity in the use of word "whole" in recent holistic literature.在近代的整体主义著作中，“整体”这个词的用法极其含混。
• In so far as historicism is technological,its approach is not piecemeal,but "holistic".仅就历史决定论是一种技术而论，它的方法不是渐进的，而是“整体主义的”。

5 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

6 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 jeopardized   

危及，损害( jeopardize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The soldier jeopardized his life to save his comrade. 这个士兵冒生命的危险救他的同志。
• The occasional failed project or neglected opportunity does not jeopardized overall progress. 偶然失败的项目或失误的机会并没有影响总的进展。

9 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。

10 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

11 scarcity   

n.缺乏，不足，萧条

参考例句：

• The scarcity of skilled workers is worrying the government.熟练工人的缺乏困扰着政府。
• The scarcity of fruit was caused by the drought.水果供不应求是由于干旱造成的。

12 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。