第2123期:Harmful Waste Creation Set to Increase

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，公共废物的产生量将大幅增加。环境署报告称，这种增加将因生物多样性丧失、气候变化和致命污染造成数千亿美元的损失。 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. 联合国环境规划署的《2024 年全球废物管理展望》称，除非各国政府采取紧急预防措施，否则全球废物产生量将大幅增加。 世界上增长最快的经济体将在很大程度上推动废物的增加。 其中包括亚洲和撒哈拉以南非洲的一些国家，这些国家已经在努力应对当前的公共废物水平。 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. 该报告预测，城市固体废物产生量将从 2023 年的 23 亿吨增加到 2050 年的 38 亿吨。环境署预计，到本世纪中叶，全球每年的废物处理成本将增至 6,400 亿美元。 这比 2020 年增加了 75% 以上。那一年，世界估计产生了 21 亿吨公共固体废物，其中不包括工业废物。 Damage caused by the growing waste would account for about $443 billion of the total cost. 日益增加的废物造成的损失将占总成本约 4,430 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《超越废物时代：将垃圾变成资源》的报告于本周在肯尼亚举行的联合国环境大会期间发布。 作者认为，过去十年来，人类已经“倒退”。 他们说人类正在制造更多的废物、更多的污染和更多改变气候的气体。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降低这些成本。 但报告指出，此类改革存在重大障碍，包括执法体系薄弱。 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.谈判人员正在努力达成一项条约，以应对塑料造成的极具破坏性和危险的污染。 他们将于四月开始第四轮会谈。 联合国环境规划署执行主任英格·安德森表示，她希望双方能够在今年年底之前完成该协议。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. 环保主义者和化石燃料生产商仍然对该协议的条款存在分歧。 他们尤其争论该协议是否应集中于减少塑料产量或增加回收和再利用。 "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. 安德森对路透社表示：“人们有兴趣，特别是那些生产聚合物原料的国家，但正如我不断告诉他们的那样，这不是一项反塑料条约。”他指出，汽车和汽车仍然需要塑料。 医用器材。 Raw polymers are used in the creation of plastic materials. 原始聚合物用于制造塑料材料。 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，她希望没有任何代表团会努力阻止该条约的进展，而是“找到一条真正考虑到我们正被塑料淹没这一事实的前进道路”。