潘基文世界防治荒漠化日致辭

　　世界防治荒漠化和干旱日（World Day to combat desertification），1994年12月19日第49屆聯合國大會根據聯大第二委員會（經濟和財政）的建議，通過了49/115號決議，從 1995年起把每年的6月17日定為“世界防治荒漠化和干旱日”，旨在進一步提高世界各國人民對防治荒漠化重要性的認識，喚起人們防治荒漠化的責任心和緊迫感。

Message on World Day to Combat Desertification

　　世界防治荒漠化日致辭

17 June 2014

　　2014年6月17日

“Land Belongs to the Future – Let’s Climate Proof It”

　　“土地屬于未來，讓其不受氣候變化影響”

　　Land degradation, caused or exacerbated by climate change, is not only a danger to livelihoods, but also a threat to peace and stability. The warning signs lie in conflict between pastoralists and subsistence farmers competing for more productive land and communities fighting over increasingly scarce water resources. We see the symptoms of insecurity in global food market volatility, internal displacement and mass migration.

　　氣候變化造成或加劇的土地退化，不僅威脅到生計，也威脅到和平與穩定。畜牧者與自耕農之間爭奪更具生產力的土地，以及不同社區爭奪日益稀缺的水資源，便是需要警惕的跡象。我們看到全球糧食市場波動、境內流離失所和大規模移徙等不安全現象。

　　While land degradation is acutely felt in the world’s arid lands, some 80 per cent is actually occurring outside these areas. More than 1.5 billion people subsist on land that is degrading – the majority of whom are small farmers. Climate change directly threatens their productivity. In many regions, freshwater resources are declining, food-growing areas are shifting and crop yields are faltering.

　　盡管土地退化在世界干旱地區最為嚴重，約有80%實際發生在這些地區以外。超過15億人在不斷退化的土地上生存——其中大多數是小農戶。氣候變化直接威脅到他們的生產力。在許多地區，淡水資源正在減少，糧食種植地區正在轉移，作物產量正在下降。

　　Globally, unpredictable and extreme weather is predicted to have an even greater impact on food production. With world population rising, it is urgent that we work to build the resilience of all productive land resources and the communities that depend on them. We need to manage the land sustainably, avoid further degradation, and reclaim and repair that which has been damaged. More than 2 billion hectares of land have potential for restoration and rehabilitation. We need to inspire action that will prompt the recovery of these areas.

　　在全球范圍內，無法預測的極端天氣預計將對糧食生產造成更大的影響。隨著世界人口不斷增加，當務之急是要努力加強所有生產性土地資源的復原力，以及依賴這些資源生存的社區。我們需要以可持續方式管理土地，避免其進一步退化，并恢復和改良已遭破壞的土地。有20多億公頃的土地有可能恢復和復原。我們必須激勵能促使這些地區復原的行動。

　　Recovering land that is degrading will have multiple benefits. We can avert the worst effects of climate change, produce more food and ease competition over resources. We can preserve vital ecosystem services, such as water retention, which protects us from floods or droughts. And a comprehensive and large-scale approach to land recovery can create new jobs, business opportunities and livelihoods, allowing populations to not only survive but thrive.

　　恢復正在退化的土地將有多重效益。我們可以避免氣候變化的最惡劣影響，生產更多的糧食，減緩對資源的競爭。我們能夠養護重要的生態系統服務，如持水能力，以保護我們免受洪水和干旱之害。以全面和大規模的辦法來恢復土地，可以創造新的就業機會、商業機會和生計，使人民不僅能夠生存，而且能夠興旺。

　　The theme of this year’s World Day to Combat Desertification is “Land belongs to the future, let’s climate-proof it”. It can be done, as communities in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali have shown by recovering more than 5 million hectares of degraded land. Let us take inspiration from these and other examples and protect and nurture the land for this and future generations.

　　今年，世界防治荒漠化日的主題是“土地屬于未來，讓其不受氣候變化影響”。這是可以做到的，因為在布基納法索、尼日爾和馬里的社區已恢復500多萬公頃退化的土地。讓我們從這些和其他的例子中得到啟發，為這一代和子孫后代保護和培育土地。

　　潘基文世界海洋日致辭

　　聯合國于第63屆聯合國大會上將每年的6月8日確定為“世界海洋日”（World Ocean Day）。聯合國秘書長潘基文就此發表致辭時指出，人類活動正在使海洋世界付出可怕的代價，個人和團體都有義務保護海洋環境，認真管理海洋資源。 2009年聯合國將首個世界海洋日的主題確定為“我們的海洋，我們的責任”并將其日期調整到6月8日。