VOA常速英语2019--垃圾污染问题已成全球化问题（在线收听）

An estimated 8 million metric tons of plastic pour into the oceans every year, amounting to the equivalent of one garbage truck every minute, USAID Counselor Chris Milligan told a crowd at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., this week.

据估测，每年有800万公吨的塑料垃圾倒入海洋，相当于每分钟就产生一卡车的，美国国际开发署（USAID）参事克里斯·米利根本周在华盛顿特区的威尔逊中心发表了讲话。

There are now five massive patches of floating garbage in the world’s oceans. We found microplastics in the Arctic Sea ice, at the most remote stretches of islands in the Pacific and in the deepest ocean trenches.

目前，世界各地的海洋中有5大块漂浮垃圾区。我们发现，我们发现，北冰洋冰层中的塑料微粒出现在了太平洋最遥远的岛上以及最深处的海沟中。

Most ocean plastic comes from land-based sources, said Counselor Milligan:

大多数海洋塑料垃圾都来自于陆地，参事克里斯·米利根表示：

An enormous amount comes from cities in the developing world which cannot adequately manage their waste. This includes a number of cities in the rapidly urbanizing countries of South and Southeast Asia… Ocean plastic waste is a global problem, but waste management is a local issue.

其中大量垃圾来自于发展中国家的城市，因为他们无法恰当地处理垃圾。其中也有许多城市位于快速城镇化的南亚和东南亚……海洋塑料垃圾是全球性问题，但垃圾治理是地方问题。

That is why USAID has joined forces with Circulate Capital, a firm dedicated to incubating and financing companies and infrastructure that prevent ocean plastic pollution. The firm’s funding is backed by $100 million in commitments from numerous multinational corporations including PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Dow, Danone, Unilever, and Coca-Cola. In what is called a Blended Finance Agreement, USAID will provide Circulate Capital with a $35 million, 50 percent loan-portfolio guarantee.

正因如此，USAID与循环资本合作，循环资本是一家公司，致力于担任孵化器的角色，为其他公司提供资金和基础设施，阻止海洋垃圾污染。该公司的资金来源有1亿美元是多家跨国公司提供的，包括百事可乐公司、宝洁公司、陶氏公司、法国达能集团、联合利华、可口可乐公司。在混合融资协议中，USAID将提供循环资本3500万美元，50%的贷款组合担保。

This will help lessen risk for private investors and incentivize private capital investment and new business development in recycling, trash collection, and related businesses in Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. This program will create a new recycling market in these countries, making plastics too valuable to dump into the ocean.

这有助于降低散户的风险，刺激资本投资和新商业开发，领域涉及垃圾回收、垃圾收集以及一些国家的相关业务，如印尼、菲律宾、斯里兰卡、越南。该项目将在这些国家打造一个新的回收市场，让塑料提高价值，人们舍不得倒入海里。

Our goal, said Counselor Milligan, is to promote a partner’s self-reliance so that they can participate in the world economy as equals and join us in addressing global challenges.

米利根表示，我们的目标是促进伙伴的自力更生，这样一来，他们就能以平等身份参与到世界经济中，并加入我们应对全球性挑战。