《信使》| 国际团结与气候变化

在孟加拉国的劳马里乌帕齐拉（分区），一处大坝决堤，水位上涨，村民只能无助地看着自己与世隔绝。孟加拉摄影师拉泽尔·乔杜里（RaselChowdhury）回忆道：“这一切的发生只用了半小时。” 

Cut off from the world, these villagers watch helplessly as the dam breaks and waters rise in the upazila (sub-district) of Raomari, in Bangladesh. "It all happened in half an hour," recalls Bangladeshi photographer Rasel Chowdhury. 

 

南非诺贝尔和平奖获得者德斯蒙德·图图（Desmond Tutu）曾打比方说，富国“仅需点击温度调节器”，就能适应不断上升的气温，而发展中国家显然面临着更严酷的挑战。那么，国际团结在其中能发挥什么作用？以下是作者从道德良知的角度出发，对团结一致的思考。 

If rich countries can adapt to rising temperatures "with the flick of a thermostat"– to use the metaphor of the South African Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu – developing countries face far more dramatic challenges. A reflection on a shared solidarity informed by an ethical consciousness.

 

约翰·哈廷

Johan Hattingh

 

面对气候变化的诸多挑战，当今世界比以往任何时候都更需要一个道德框架，也更需要在遵从道德理念的基础上实现国际团结。

Facing the challenges of climate change, the world today is more in need of a framework of  ethics and an ethically informed practice of international solidarity than ever before.

 

多重原因促成了这一需求。首先是形成鲜明对比的现实：一方面，当今时代面临着气候变化、人口流动、地缘政治紧张局势、安全问题和国际恐怖主义等日益交织在一起的全球性挑战和重大趋势；另一方面，我们应对这些挑战和重大趋势的措施却越来越散乱无章。这是联合国秘书长安东尼奥·古特雷斯（António Guterres）在2019年1月达沃斯世界经济论坛上的讲话所传递的中心思想。

This need arises, in the first place, from the stark reality that the global challenges and mega-trends of our time – climate change, the movement of people, geopolitical tensions, security, and international terrorism – become more and more integrated, but our responses to them are more and more fragmented. This was the core message of António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, in his speech to the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, in January 2019.

 

第二，也许也是更重要的一点是，加强国际团结的需要源于气候变化本身的成因和影响。气候变化是业已严重分化的世界的产物，而其作用和影响加深并加剧了本已存在的分裂现象和社会脆弱性。

In the second place, and perhaps more importantly, the need for international solidarity also springs from the causes and effects of climate change itself. Climate change is the product of a world that is already deeply divided, and in its effects and impacts, intensifies and multiplies divisions and vulnerabilities that already exist.

 

国家以下一级的边缘化社会团体和群体的处境也同样如此。不可否认的是，政治和社会现实表明，许多人受到了不公正的对待。例如，较贫穷的国家和群体更多地承受了气候变化的风险和后果，而它们即使对气候变化负有责任，其责任比起其他群体也要小得多。

This also applies on a subnational level to marginalized social groups and communities. These are undeniable political and social facts, experienced by many as injustices. Poorer nations and groups, for example, are much more vulnerable to the risks and burdens of climate change, while they have contributed much less, if anything at all, to its causes.

 

同样，较贫穷的国家和群体也需要在气候变化中生存下去，而它们可用以应对气候变化的资源却是最少的。因此，发展中国家和群体不得不依靠援助来适应气候变化的影响，而世界上更加富裕的地区对这类援助的需求却并非十分迫切。目前，气候变化并未直接给富国造成困难，即便有，它们也能轻而易举地克服。 

Similarly, poorer nations and groups already need to adapt to climate change, while they have the least resources to do so. Developing nations and groups are thus dependent on assistance for adaptation, while the urgency for such assistance is not very high in more affluent parts of the world. The rich are not directly affected by climate change for now, or if they are, they can adapt to it fairly easily.

 

南非开普敦前任大主教德斯蒙德·图图简单明了地指出了这种不对称。他在联合国开发计划署（UNDP）《2007/2008年人类发展报告》（第166页）中指出，至少就现在而言，世界上更加富裕地区的民众只要“轻轻点击温度调节器”调节空调，就能适应不断上升的气温。但对发展中国家的无数妇女而言，适应气候变化意味着她们要走更远的路，才能为一家老小获取洁净的饮用水。

This asymmetry has been captured neatly by Desmond Tutu, former Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, when he pointed out in the United Nations Development Programme ( UNDP)  Human Development Report 2007/2008 (p. 166) that those in more affluent parts of the world can – at least for now – adapt to rising temperatures by merely adjusting their air conditioning “with the flick of a thermostat”. But for countless women in developing nations, adaptation would entail walking ever-longer distances to fetch clean drinking water for their households.

 

 

显然，人们必须团结一致、彼此合作，才能应对气候变化，但整个世界四分五裂，弥合这些分歧的希望十分渺茫。

The need for standing together and cooperating with one another in response to climate change is clearly there, but the world is divided, and the prospects for overcoming these divisions are very dim.

 

那么，如果有可能，我们能做些什么？

So, what, if anything, can we do about this?