由於中俄抵制 南極海洋保護區計劃告寢

SYDNEY, Australia — International talks in Australia on establishing two marine reserve areas, each larger than Texas, in the waters around Antarctica ended in failure on Friday, with some delegates to the negotiations saying that China and Russia had resisted the proposals.

澳大利亞悉尼——在澳大利亞舉行的關於在南極附近水域建立兩個海洋保護區的國際談判，週五以失敗告終。這兩個保護區中的任何一個，面積都超過了美國的德克薩斯州。一些參與談判的代表稱，中國和俄羅斯抵制了上述提議。

The United States and New Zealand had jointly proposed the creation of a 500,000-square-mile reserve in the Ross Sea, in the hopes of alleviating pressure on Antarctic species facing the effects of climate change and fishing. A second major proposal, from Australia, France and the European Union, would have set up a series of four reserves in the east Antarctic waters, covering about 386,000 square miles.

此前，美國和新西蘭聯合倡議，在羅斯海建立50萬平方英里的保護區，從而減輕南極物種因爲氣候變化和捕魚的影響所造成的壓力。另外一個重要的提議來自澳大利亞、法國和歐盟，包括在南極東部水域建立作爲一個整體的四個保護區，面積約爲38.6萬平方英里。

But neither was approved at the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, which ended Friday in the Australian city of Hobart after two weeks of talks among government officials, scientists and environmentalists from 24 countries and the European Union.

但在南極海洋生物資源養護委員會(Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources)的年度會議上，這兩項提議都沒有通過。在來自24個國家以及歐盟的政府官員、科學家和環保人士進行了兩週的談判之後，會議於週五在澳大利亞的霍巴特結束。

Any one of the commission’s member states can block a major proposal like the creation of a marine reserve. The commission does not make its deliberations public, but several nonvoting delegates from nongovernmental organizations said China and Russia were the only countries to speak against the two proposals, both of which have been presented before in various iterations.

委員會的所有成員國都可以否決建立海洋保護區這樣重大的協議。委員會不公開審議過程，但幾名非政府組織的無表決權代表稱，中國和俄羅斯是僅有的反對這兩項提議的國家。此前，這兩項提議都已通過多個版本被呈現。

“The overall political situation, where Russia is in a political confrontation with other countries, mainly Western or NATO countries, overshadows negotiations” at international forums like the marine commission, said Grigory Tsidulko, a Russian member of the nongovernmental organization Antarctic Ocean Alliance, who attended the talks.

“整體的政治形勢是，俄羅斯正在與其他國家進行政治對抗，其中主要是西方國家和北約國家，這爲海洋委員會這樣的國際論壇的談判蒙上了陰影，”非政府組織南極海洋聯盟(Antarctic Ocean Alliance)的俄羅斯成員、出席了此次談判的格里戈裏·提斯杜克(Grigory Tsidulko)說。

Jiliang Chen of the Chinese nongovernmental organization Greenovation Hub said that China’s official delegation was reluctant to make long-term decisions about large-scale marine reserves, particularly given ambitions to expand the country’s fishing fleet.

中國非政府組織創綠中心的陳冀俍說，中國官方代表團不願意做出關於大型海洋保護區的長期決定，尤其是考慮到其擴張捕魚艦隊的宏大目標。

“But change is happening in China,” Mr. Chen said. “National policies are moving towards environmental protection. Good things are happening domestically so I hope we can, in future, contribute more to the conservation of the Antarctic.”

“但中國發生了改變，”陳冀俍說。“國家政策正在朝着環境保護方向發展。國內正在發生好的事情，因此，我希望我們未來能夠爲保護南極做出更多貢獻。”

Evan Bloom of the United States State Department, who led the American delegation, said the ecosystem in the proposed Ross Sea reserve “deserves protection because it hosts large populations of penguins, seals, whales, fishes and other animals that are vulnerable to climate change, in a unique location.” The New Zealand delegation said the Ross Sea, one of the most pristine natural regions in the world, is home to almost a third of the world’s Adélie penguins and Antarctic petrels.

美國代表團團長、美國國務院(State Department)的艾文·布盧姆(Evan Bloom)表示，提議的羅斯海保護區“應該受到保護，因爲這裏有大量企鵝、海豹、鯨魚、魚類及其他容易受到氣候變化影響的動物，處在一個獨特的位置”。新西蘭代表團表示，羅斯海是世界上最原始、自然的地區之一，世界上幾乎三分之一的阿德利企鵝和南極海燕生活在那裏。

Scientists have warned that sections of the Antarctic are warming more rapidly than other parts of the globe, resulting in ocean acidification and the degradation of sea ice. “Cold waters absorb more carbon dioxide,” said Bob Zuur, a delegate to the talks from WWF. “A lot of animals and plants, especially animals like krill, suffer as acidity levels rise.”

科學家警告稱，南極部分區域變暖的速度比世界其他地方快，導致海洋酸化，海冰退化。“冷水會吸收更多二氧化碳，”世界自然基金會(WWF)的與會代表鮑勃·祖爾(Bob Zuur)說。“隨着海水酸度上升，很多動植物，特別是磷蝦等動物會受到影響。”

“Krill is the lifeblood of the ocean,” Mr. Zuur added. “It supports the biodiversity in the Southern Ocean, from huge whales to tiny petrels to seals and penguins.”

“磷蝦是海洋的命脈，”祖爾還說。“它爲南大洋的生物多樣性提供支持，從巨鯨到小海燕到海豹和企鵝。”

Mark Epstein, a delegate from the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, said it was clear from the meetings that the vast majority of delegates supported marine reserves. “That’s very positive,” he said. “There have been substantive conversations around how marine protected areas should function. But we need a game-change moment to get us through this impasse.”

來自南極和南大洋聯盟(Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition)的代表馬克·愛潑斯坦(Mark Epstein)表示，從會議的情況來看，很明顯，絕大多數代表支持設立海洋保護區。“這是非常積極的，”他說。“我們就海洋保護區如何發揮功能進行了實質性的交流。但我們需要一個變革時刻，使我們突破這個僵局。”