VOA标准英语2008年-UN Report: Bio-Fuels Adding to Food Crisis

The U.N. Special Investigator¹ on the Right To Food says soaring food prices have declined somewhat, but the crisis remains² and the problems are exacerbated³ by the production of bio-fuels. The expert submitted a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council as a follow-up to the Special Session convened⁴ on the Global Food Crisis in May. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from the conference in Geneva.
　
Olivier De Schutter, 22 May 2008

The Special Session in May was called to deal with the negative impact of soaring food prices on the world's poor. U.N. Investigator on the Right To Food, Olivier De Schutter, says the concerns people had then still remain.

He says prices of food commodities in international markets have decreased from their peak levels of last spring. But, he notes they remain much higher than they were before the crisis and predictions indicate they will remain high for several years.

"Before the crisis, it was estimated by the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] that 854 million people were hungry in the world, not receiving sufficient calorie intake⁵ per day," he said. "And, two billion were malnourished. As a result of the crisis, it is estimated that at least 50 million more people have grown hungry. And, it is estimated that probably 100 million more people have fallen into extreme poverty."

De Schutter says the poor are hungry and malnourished not because there is no food, but because they cannot afford to buy the food that is available. He says governments must take steps to protect their people from the emerging threats to the right to adequate food.

For example, he says they must protect land users from the risk of eviction⁶, provide their poor with social safety nets and make sure rural women have the same rights as men to access land and other productive resources.

The report notes speculation⁷ in the futures⁸ market of primary agricultural commodities is behind much of the volatility⁹ in food prices. It suggests measures be adopted to decrease the resulting vulnerability, particularly for net food importing developing countries.

The report says the whole issue of agro-fuels has to be rethought. It says there is growing evidence that many agro-fuels consume too much fertile land, use massive amounts of water and energy and, therefore, are not a long-term alternative to fossil fuels.

De Schutter says with the possible exception of sugarcane in countries such as Brazil, the environmental impact of other agro-fuels currently produced from food crops is not particularly positive.

"I am not opposed as a matter of principle to agro-fuels," he said. "Although, I think their environmental benefits in many cases have been widely overestimated¹⁰. And, I believe particularly bio-fuels produced from maize¹¹ as is the case in the U.S. is quite detrimental¹² to the environment. But, having said this, I am not excluding in the future that agro-fuels may continue to be produced, but there needs to be some form of international discipline imposed on States."

Otherwise, he warns the pressure on land suitable for the production of crops will continue with dire¹³ consequences for the poorest people in the world.

A World Bank Study finds between 15 percent and 43 percent of food price increases on international markets reflect the rush towards agro-fuels by certain countries.

 

1 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 exacerbated   

v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The symptoms may be exacerbated by certain drugs. 这些症状可能会因为某些药物而加重。
• The drugs they gave her only exacerbated the pain. 他们给她吃的药只是加重了她的痛楚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 convened   

召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The chairman convened the committee to put the issue to a vote. 主席召集委员们开会对这个问题进行表决。
• The governor convened his troops to put down the revolt. 总督召集他的部队去镇压叛乱。

5 intake   

n.吸入，纳入；进气口，入口

参考例句：

• Reduce your salt intake.减少盐的摄入量。
• There was a horrified intake of breath from every child.所有的孩子都害怕地倒抽了一口凉气。

6 eviction   

n.租地等的收回

参考例句：

• The family have won a temporary reprieve from eviction.这个家庭暂时免于被逐出。
• He claimed damages for unlawful eviction.他要求对非法驱逐作出赔偿。

7 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

8 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

9 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

10 overestimated   

对（数量）估计过高，对…作过高的评价( overestimate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They overestimated his ability when they promoted him. 他们提拔他的时候高估了他的能力。
• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。

11 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

12 detrimental   

adj.损害的，造成伤害的

参考例句：

• We know that heat treatment is detrimental to milk.我们知道加热对牛奶是不利的。
• He wouldn't accept that smoking was detrimental to health.他不相信吸烟有害健康。

13 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。