G-8 leaders in Italy pledged to cut global emissions 50 percent by 2050. But advocacy organizations say that the commitment is much too weak and too vague for sub-Saharan Africa, which is already facing serious challenges due to a changing climate.
在意大利的八国集团领导人承诺，到2050年以前将全球温室气体排放量减少50%。但环保组织说，这项承诺对于撒哈拉以南非洲地区来说太薄弱也太含糊不清。由于气候变化，那一地区已经面临严重的挑战。
The advocacy groups say that the 2050 deadline set by the G-8 leaders is much too far away to address the serious issues arising from changing global temperatures.
环保组织说，八国集团领导人制定的2050年最后期限距离解决由全球气温变化引起的严重问题过于遥远。
Tom Sharman, head of climate change policy at the international development organization "ActionAid," claims African nations need an immediate commitment from industrialized nations both to cut their emissions by 2020 and to provide emergency funds to help affected countries respond to climate-related disasters.
国际发展组织“援助行动”的气候变化政策负责人汤姆.沙曼说，非洲国家需要工业化国家立即作出到2020年降低他们的排放量的承诺，并提供紧急资金帮助受影响的国家应对与气候有关的灾害。
"What the G-8 and the major economies forum agreed [to] was only to talk about the targets for 2050, which is a long way off and probably hardly any G-8 leaders will be alive at that date," he said. "What they really needed to do was talk about the 2020 target and how much money they're going to put on the table - and they failed to do either."
沙曼说：“八国集团和主要经济论坛达成一致立场的只是讨论2050年的目标。到2050年还有很长的一段时间，可能几乎没有任何八国集团的领导人能活到那个时候。他们真正需要做的是讨论一个2020年的目标，以及他们打算拿出多少钱。他们之前没能拿出这笔钱。”
One of the criticisms of the G-8 pledge is its vague wording regarding the base year for determining the agreed upon emissions cut. The statement declared the 2050 emission levels were to be "compared to 1990 or later years," leaving what critics suggest is a wide open door for G-8 leaders to hedge on the actual specifics of the pledge.
对于八国集团承诺提出的一项批评是，在决定并就减少排量达成共识的问题上，有关承诺在确定基准年度方面语言含混不清。这项声明宣布，2050年的排放标准是与“1990年或以后的年份相比而言”。批评家说，这为八国集团领导人避免回答承诺中的具体数字留有很大的模棱两可的空间。
George Malakwen, the assistant director at the "Eastern Africa Environmental Network," says that those regions that have had least to do with the shifting climate are now the ones suffering the most from its consequences. As an example he points out this year's severe drought in East Africa.
“东非环境交流”的助理负责人乔治.马拉文说，那些与导致气候变化关系最小的地区现在却承受最严重的后果。 他指出今年东非的严重干旱就是一个例子。
"Although [the] eastern Africa region has not been part of the industrialized world, and is not still, yet it is actually bearing the greatest brunt of climate change," said Malakwen. "Many people are dying because of hunger; crops are failing; livestock are dying - even the wildlife, which is actually one of the backbones of the economy in terms of tourism."
“虽然东非地区一直不属于工业化世界，现在也不是，但它实际上承受了气候变化最严重的后果。很多人因为饥饿而死亡，作物歉收，牲畜、甚至作为旅游经济顶梁柱的野生动物也面临死亡。
A recent report by development organization "Oxfam International" links the current hunger crisis being experienced across the region to the shifting climate trends. The report predicts that changing seasons and prolonged droughts could dramatically decrease the yield of maize crops, the staple food of a quarter billion East Africans.
发展组织“国际乐施会”的一份最新报告指出，目前在整个地区出现的饥饿危机与气候变化的趋势有关。 报告预测，季节变化和长期的干旱会大幅度减少玉米作物的产量。玉米是2.5亿东非人的主粮。
Recent studies also show that changes in climate may severely disrupt the livelihoods of the pastoralist herders in the region.
最新的研究还表明，气候变化可能严重破坏该地区牧民的生计。
Sharman predicts that the people of sub-Saharan Africa will not be impressed by the pledges they have received from the G-8 leaders.
沙曼预测说，非洲南部地区的人们不会满意八国集团领导人作出的承诺。
"I think if they see what the G-8 have said, they will be extremely disappointed and once again feel that the G-8 leaders are not really understanding Africa's problem, particularly in the case of climate change where Africa is one of the continents that stands to be hit first and hardest by climate change and yet has done least to contribute to the problem," he said.
沙曼说：“我想如果他们听到八国集团所说的话，他们会非常失望，并且再次觉得八国集团的领导人不能真正了解非洲的问题，尤其非洲是最先受到气候变化的影响、并且是受影响最严重的洲之一，而非洲人在造成这一问题方面所起的坏作用最小。”
According to the "International Governmental Panel on Climate Change," emissions from industrialized nations must be cut 25 to 40 percent by 2020 to avoid global climate-related disasters.
据“国际政府间气候变化专门委员会”说，工业化国家的温室气体到2020年必需减少25%至40%，才能避免全球与气候有关的灾害。
In reviewing the G-8 Summit this week, U.S. President Barack Obama said discussions on climate change had improved chances for further negotitaions later this year. He said the discussions had been "candid and spirited."
回顾本周的八国集团领导人峰会，美国总统奥巴马说，关于气候变化问题的讨论增进了今年晚些时候作进一步磋商的可能性。他说，这次讨论是“坦诚而愉快的”。 |