报告：有害废物产生量预计将增加
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said in a report on Wednesday that public waste creation will greatly increase by 2050. The rise will cause hundreds of billions of dollars of damage through biodiversity loss, climate change, and deadly pollution, UNEP reports.
联合国环境规划署（UNEP）在周三的一份报告中表示，到2050年，公众垃圾制造量将大幅增加。据该机构报告，这一增长将通过生物多样性的丧失、气候变化以及致命污染，造成数千亿美元的经济损失。
UNEP’s Global Waste Management Outlook 2024 says worldwide waste creation would greatly increase unless governments take urgent preventative measures. The world’s fastest-growing economies will drive much of the increase in waste. These include some countries in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa that are already struggling to deal with current public waste levels.
联合国环境规划署（UNEP）的《2024年全球废物管理展望》指出，除非各国政府立即采取预防性措施，否则全球的废物产生量将会大幅增加。增长最快的经济体将在很大程度上推动废物的增长，其中包括已经在处理当前公共废物水平方面面临挑战的亚洲和撒哈拉沙漠以南非洲的一些国家。
The report predicts municipal solid waste generation will grow from 2.3 billion tonnes in 2023 to 3.8 billion tonnes by 2050. UNEP projected the yearly cost of waste treatment by the middle of the century would rise to $640 billion worldwide. That represents a more than 75 percent increase from 2020. That year, the world produced an estimated 2.1 billion tonnes of public solid waste, which excludes industrial waste.
报告预测，到2050年，城市固体废物产生量将从2023年的23亿吨增长到38亿吨。联合国环境规划署预计，到本世纪中叶，全球处理废物的年度成本将上升到6.4万亿美元。这比2020年的水平增长了75%以上。当年，全球估计产生了21亿吨公共固体废物（不包括工业废物）。
Damage caused by the growing waste would account for about $443 billion of the total cost.
日益增长的废物所造成的损失将占总成本的大约4430亿美元。
The report, called Beyond an Age of Waste: Turning Rubbish into a Resource, was released during the U.N. Environment Assembly in Kenya this week. The writers argue that humanity has “moved backwards” over the past ten years. They say humans are creating more waste, more pollution, and more climate changing gases.
这份名为《废物时代的终结：将垃圾转化为资源》的报告，是在本周于肯尼亚召开的联合国环境大会上发布的。作者们认为，过去十年，人类“倒退了”。他们指出，人类制造了更多垃圾，更多污染，以及更多的气候改变气体。
Waste prevention measures and improved waste treatment could reduce those costs, the report said. But it notes, there are major barriers to such reforms, including weak enforcement systems.
报告称，废物预防措施和改进废物处理可以减少这些成本。但它也指出，此类改革面临重大障碍，包括执行力度不足。
Negotiators are working toward a treaty to deal with the especially damaging and dangerous pollution from plastics. They are beginning a fourth round of talks in April. UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen said she is hopeful they will complete the agreement by the end of this year.
谈判代表们正在努力达成一项条约，以处理塑料造成的特别有害和危险的污染问题。他们将于4月开始第四轮会谈。联合国环境规划署执行主任英格·安德森表示，她希望能在今年年底前完成这项协议。
Environmentalists and fossil fuel producers continue to disagree about the terms of the agreement. They especially dispute whether the deal should center on reducing plastics production or increasing recycling and re-use.
环保人士与化石燃料生产商之间对于协议的条款仍然存在分歧。他们尤其在争论协议应当侧重于减少塑料生产，还是增加回收再利用。
“There is an interest, and especially among the countries that are producing raw polymer, but as I keep telling them, this is not an anti-plastic treaty,” Andersen told Reuters, noting there would still be a need for plastics in vehicles and medical equipment.
安徒生在接受路透社采访时表示：“对此有所兴趣，尤其是那些生产初级聚合物的国家，但我不断告诉他们，这并不是一项反对塑料的条约。”他指出，汽车和医疗设备等领域仍然需要塑料。
Raw polymers are used in the creation of plastic materials.
生化聚合物被用于塑料材料的制作中。
Andersen said she hopes no delegations would work to block progress on the treaty, but instead “find a way forward that actually takes into account the fact that we are drowning in plastic.”
安德森表示，她希望没有代表团会做阻挠条约进展的工作，而是“找到一个真正考虑到我们正在被塑料淹没的前进方法”。
I’m Gregory Stachel.
我叫格雷戈里·斯泰彻。
Aaron Ross reported this story for Reuters. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English.
Aaron Ross为路透社报道了这个故事。Gregory Stachel将其改编成了VOA英语学习频道的内容。
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Words in This Story
这个故事中的词汇：
biodiversity – n. the existence of many different kinds of plants and animals in an environment
生物多样性 – n. 一个环境中存在着多种不同种类的植物和动物的情况。
fossil fuel – n. a fuel (such as coal, oil, or natural gas) that is formed in the earth from dead plants or animals
化石燃料 – n. 一种由地球上死去的植物或动物形成的燃料（如煤炭、石油或天然气）
recycle – v. to make something new from (something that has been used before)
回收 – v. 从（已使用过的物品）制作新的东西
