revealed: uk plans to drop flagship £11.6bn climate pledge
-disclosure provokes fury as rishi sunak accused of betraying populations vulnerable to global heating

爆料:英国计划放弃116亿英镑的旗舰气候承诺
——这一信息披露引发了愤怒,因为苏纳克被指控背叛了易受全球变暖影响的人群


(the prime minister, rishi sunak, at cop26 in 2021 when he was chancellor. the decision is likely to diminish the uk’s standing on the world stage.)

(苏纳克首相在2021年的cop26大会上,当时他还是大臣。这一决定可能会削弱英国在世界舞台上的地位。)
新闻:

the government is drawing up plans to drop the uk’s flagship £11.6bn climate and nature funding pledge, the guardian can reveal, with the prime minister accused of betraying populations most vulnerable to global heating.

《卫报》透露,英国政府正在起草计划,放弃116亿英镑的气候和自然基金承诺,首相被指责背叛了最易受全球变暖影响的人群。

the disclosure provoked fury from former ministers and representatives of vulnerable countries, who accused rishi sunak of making false promises.

这一披露激起了前首相和脆弱国家代表的愤怒,他们指责苏纳克搞虚假承诺。

a leaked briefing note to ministers, given to the foreign office and seen by the guardian, lays out reasons for dropping the uk’s contribution to meeting the global $100bn (£78.6bn) a year commitment to developing countries.

《卫报》看到了一份泄露给外交部的大臣简报,其中列出了英国放弃对发展中国家每年1000亿美元(786亿英镑)承诺的原因。

it says: “our commitment to double our international climate finance to £11.6bn was made in 2019, when we were still at 0.7 [% of gdp spent on international aid] and pre-covid.” it adds that to meet it by the deadline would be a “huge challenge” because of new pressures, including help for ukraine being included in the aid budget.

它写道:“我们将国际气候金援翻一番,达到116亿英镑的承诺是在2019年做出的,当时我们用于国际援助的支出仍占gdp的0.7%,而且是在新冠疫情之前。”它补充写道,由于新的压力,包括援助预算中包括对乌克兰的帮助,要在最后期限前实现这一目标将是一个“巨大的挑战”。

to meet the £11.6bn target by 2026, government officials have calculated that it would have to spend 83% of the foreign office’s official development assistance budget on the international climate fund. civil servants said in the leaked document that this “would squeeze out room for other commitments such as humanitarian and women and girls”.

为了在2026年之前实现116亿英镑的目标,政府官员计算出,英国必须将外交部官方发展援助预算的83%用于国际气候基金。公务员们在泄露的文件中表示,这“将挤占其他承诺的空间,比如人道主义、妇女和女童”。

it also claimed that factors such as ukraine and debt relief could make it even more difficult to meet the target. this is because the government has cut international aid spending to 0.5% of gross national income since the announcement was made, squeezing budgets across the board, and because ministers did not spend most of the money allocated to the climate fund over the past few years, leaving the majority to be spent by 2026.

它还声称,乌克兰和债务减免等因素可能使实现目标变得更加困难。这是因为自宣布这一承诺以来,政府已将国际援助支出削减至国民总收入的0.5%,从而全面压缩了预算,而且由于大臣们在过去几年没有花掉分配给气候基金的大部分资金,大部分资金将在2026年之前花掉。
原创翻译:龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


the uk spent £5.8bn over the previous five years up to 2021. this was doubled, to spend £11.6bn between april 2021 and march 2026, £3bn of which was earmarked for protecting and restoring nature for meeting commitments made in cop15 last december.

在截至2021年的前5年里,英国在这方面的支出为58亿英镑。在2021年4月至2026年3月期间,这一数字翻了一番,达到116亿英镑,其中30亿英镑专门用于保护和恢复自然,以履行去年12月在cop15大会上做出的承诺。

the projects funded include building renewable energy, helping create low-pollution transport and protecting forests in sensitive areas around the globe.

这些资助的项目包括建设可再生能源,帮助创造低污染的交通工具,以及保护全球敏感地区的森林。

former foreign office minister zac goldsmith, who resigned last week citing what he termed sunak’s “apathy” towards the environment, said this would “shred” the uk’s international reputation.

上周辞职的英国前外交大臣扎克·戈德史密斯表示,这将“摧毁”英国的国际声誉。戈德史密斯称,苏纳克对环境“漠不关心”。
原创翻译:龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


he told the guardian: “the low levels of expenditure so far combined with the decision to define our spending on afghan and ukrainian refugees here in the uk as aid (something other countries have not done) means it is going to be virtually impossible to honour the promise. the hockey stick of spending will be so steep that whoever is in government after the next election would have to savagely slash humanitarian, education, health and other funding in order to hit the £11.6bn target. so even while it is technically possible to claim we will honour the pledge, the next government will simply not be able to.

他告诉《卫报》:“到目前为止,低水平的支出,加上我们决定将在英国的阿富汗和乌克兰难民的支出定义为援助(其他国家没有这样做),意味着兑现这一承诺实际上是不可能的。支出的‘曲棍球棒’将如此之大,以至于无论谁在下次选举后执政,都将不得不大幅削减人道主义、教育、卫生和其他方面的资金,以实现这个116亿英镑的目标。因此,尽管从技术上讲,我们有可能宣称我们将兑现这一承诺,但下一届政府将根本无法做到这一点。
原创翻译:龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


“small island states in particular, whose votes in the un are no less valuable than ours and which are routinely needed by us, will be left feeling utterly betrayed. given around 25 commonwealth countries are small island states as well as our interests in the pacific and caribbean, the geopolitical repercussions will be far reaching and our reputation as a reliable partner will simply be shredded.”

“特别是小岛屿国家,它们在联合国的投票权不比我们少,而且我们经常需要它们,它们将感到完全被背叛了。考虑到大约25个英联邦国家是小岛屿国家,以及我们在太平洋和加勒比地区的利益,地缘政治影响将是深远的,我们作为‘可靠伙伴’的声誉将被彻底粉碎。”

last week the government’s statutory climate advisers published a report finding that the government was missing the majority of its climate targets and had lost its position as a world leader on climate.

上周,政府的法定气候顾问发布了一份报告,发现政府未能实现其大部分气候目标,并失去了其作为全球气候领导者的地位。

countries due to receive the funding have expressed dismay at the prospect of a funding cut. lee white, gabon’s environment minister, said: “the climate crisis is such that every country has to contribute to the solution. gabon is 88% covered by tropical rainforest. we have maintained deforestation below 0.1% over 5 decades and net absorb over 100m tonnes of co2 annually. few countries are doing more for the planet. developed nations, particularly the uk, which was at the origin of the industrial revolution, have to do the heavy lifting – but all too often they make false promises and fail to provide true leadership or even honour their modest financial commitments.”

原定获得资金的国家对资金削减的前景表示失望。加蓬环境部长李·怀特表示:“气候危机如此严重,每个国家都必须为pg电子麻将胡了的解决方案做出贡献。加蓬的88%被热带雨林覆盖。50年来,我们将森林砍伐率保持在0.1%以下,每年净吸收超过1亿吨二氧化碳。很少有国家为地球做得更多。发达国家,尤其是作为工业革命发源地的英国,必须承担重任——但他们往往做出虚假的承诺,无法发挥真正的领导作用,甚至无法兑现他们适度的金援承诺。”

the decision is likely to diminish the uk’s standing on the world stage, as international groups accuse it of squandering its reputation.

这一决定可能会削弱英国在世界舞台上的地位,因为国际组织指责英国糟蹋自己的声誉。

clare shakya, the strategic director of the international institute for environment and development, said: “a decision by this government to drop the pledge of £11.6bn in climate finance is somewhat unsurprising given cuts they had already made to programmes that would have used that funding. but it’s no less disappointing. not only could that funding have helped some of the most vulnerable people already facing the droughts, flooding and wildfires brought on by climate change, its provision was also a demonstration of the uk’s leadership in the face of the climate crisis.

国际环境与发展研究所战略总监克莱尔·沙克雅表示:“鉴于政府已经削减了可能使用这笔资金的项目,本届政府决定放弃116亿英镑的气候融资承诺,这在一定程度上并不令人意外。但它也同样令人失望。这笔资金本来不仅能帮助那些已经面临气候变化带来的干旱、洪水和野火的最脆弱人群,而且还展示了英国在应对气候危机方面的领导力。
原创翻译:龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


“the uk government seems content to squander what standing it had on the world stage to bring countries together to face this global emergency.”

“英国政府似乎乐于糟蹋自己在世界舞台上把各国团结起来面对这一全球紧急情况的地位。”

the briefing note suggests a departure from the uk’s previous plans to be at the “forefront of addressing the challenges associated with climate change and biodiversity loss”. when the funding was announced, the government departments involved called climate finance “the top priority for government over the next decade” and described the fund as a “vital tool in the government’s commitment to tackle climate change internationally”.

这份简报表明,英国偏离了之前的计划,即站在“应对气候变化和生物多样性丧失相关挑战的最前沿”。当资金宣布时,相关政府部门称气候金援是“政府未来十年的首要任务”,并将该基金描述为“政府承诺在国际上应对气候变化的重要工具”。

the foreign office declined to comment on the leak, but pointed to rishi sunak’s comments made at cop27 regarding climate finance. a spokesperson said: “we spent over £1.4 billion on international climate finance over the course of the 2021/22 financial year, supporting developing countries to reduce poverty and respond to the causes and impacts of climate change. we will publish the latest annual figures in due course.”

英国外交部拒绝就泄密事件发表评论,但指出了苏纳克在cop27大会上就气候金援问题发表的评论。一位发言人说:“在2021/22财政年度,我们在国际气候金援上花费了14亿英镑,支持发展中国家减少贫困,应对气候变化的原因和影响。我们将适时公布最新的年度数据。”

it later added: “claims that the international climate finance pledge is being dropped are false. as the prime minister set out at cop27, the government remains committed to spending £11.6bn on international climate finance and we are delivering on that pledge.”

后来又补充说:“有关国际气候金援承诺正在被放弃的说法是错误的。正如首相在cop27大会上提出的那样,政府仍然致力于为国际气候金援投入116亿英镑,我们正在兑现这一承诺。”