听力课堂TED音频栏目主要包括TED演讲的音频MP3及中英双语文稿，供各位英语爱好者学习使用。本文主要内容为演讲MP3+双语文稿:协助非洲经济发展和对抗气候变化的能源，希望你会喜欢！
【演讲者及介绍】Rose M Mutiso
Rose M. Mutiso与一个全球专家网络合作，为非洲和亚洲的能源短缺寻找解决方案。她还帮助非洲妇女成为学者和思想领袖。
【演讲主题】非洲需要能源来发展和应对气候变化
the energy Africa needs to develop and fight climate change
【中英文字幕】
翻译者TED Translators Admin 校对者Yolanda Zhang
Think about this. Californians use more electricity playing video games than the entire country of Senegal uses overall. Also, before gyms were shut down due to COVID, New Yorkers could work out in a 10-degree-Celsius gym because the cold apparently burns more calories. And yet only three percent of Nigerians have air conditioners. As you can see, there's a mind-blowing gap between the energy haves and the energy have-nots. And across the globe, we have incredible energy inequality.
比较一下： 加利福尼亚人玩视频游戏所用的电量比整个塞内加尔全国使用的电量还多。另外，在健身房因COVID而关闭之前， 纽约人可以在10摄氏度的健身房健身， 因为在“寒冷”：的环境下， 人体会燃烧更多的卡路里。但是，只有3％的尼日利亚人家里有空调。 很明显，富人和穷人所拥有的能源存在着巨大的差异。在全球范围内， 能源不平等的程度更是难以想象。
Billions of people simply lack enough energy to build a better life: affordable, abundant and reliable energy to run their businesses without daily blackouts, to preserve their crops from rotting, to power lifesaving medical equipment, to work from home and do Zoom calls with their colleagues, to run trains and factories, basically, to grow and to prosper and to access both dignity and opportunity.
数十亿的人因为缺乏足够的能源， 无而法过上更好的生活：没有廉价、充足、可靠的能源来经营他们的生意， 来防止农作物腐烂， 为救生医疗设备供电， 在家工作，并与同事进行视频通话， 或者让火车和工厂正常运转， 更无法获得基本的繁荣和发展， 以及尊严和机会。
Rich countries have that kind of energy, whereas most countries in Africa, and many elsewhere simply don't. And those billions of people are falling further and further behind the rest of the world.In addition to taking their energy abundance for granted, the wealthy take something else for granted: that everyone should fight climate change exactly the same way. Tackling climate change will require an accelerated transition to low-carbon energy sources.And yet, emissions continue to climb year after year, threatening to blow our tight carbon budget.
发达国家都拥有这些能源， 而非洲大多数国家和许多其他地区则根本没有。 这数十亿人的生活相比世界其他地区， 落后得越来越多。 除了毫无顾忌的消耗能源外， 富裕国家的人认为其他很多事情也是理所当然的。每个人都应该以同样的方式对待气候变化。应对气候变化需要加快向低碳能源的过渡。 然而排放量却年复一年的攀升， 不断威胁着我们严格的碳排放预算。
That's what I want to talk about today. The carbon budget is an estimation of the total emissions that our planet's atmosphere can safely absorb. Faced with an imperative to not explode this carbon budget, the world is looking at Africa in a completely contradictory way. On one side, it wants us to grow, to emerge from abject poverty, to build a middle class, to own cars and air conditioners and other modern amenities because after all, Africa is the next global market.
这也是我今天要谈论的话题。 碳预算是对地球大气层 可以安全吸收的总排放量的一种估算。面对不超出碳预算的紧迫任务， 全世界却在以一种非常矛盾的方式来看待非洲。 一方面，它希望我们成长、 摆脱赤贫， 并建立一个拥有汽车、 空调和其他现代设施的中产国家。 因为毕竟， 非洲将是下一个全球市场。
On the other side, because they are anxious to demonstrate action on climate change, rich countries in the West are increasingly restricting their funding to only renewable energy sources, effectively telling Africa and other poor nations to either develop with no carbon or to limit their development ambitions altogether.
然而另一方面， 因为人们急迫的需要针对气候变化采取行动， 西方的富裕国家正在越来越多的将资金投入到可再生能源领域， 并直白地告诉非洲和其他贫穷国家， 要么发展无碳社会， 要么就放弃雄心勃勃的发展计划。
Africa obviously needs to develop. That's non-negotiable. And I want to make the case today that Africa must be prioritized when it comes to what's left in the carbon budget. In other words, Africa must be allowed to, yes, produce more carbon in the short term so we can grow, while the rich world needs to drastically cut their emissions. Africans have a right to aspire to the same prosperity that everyone else enjoys. And we deserve the same chance at a job, at an education, at dignity and opportunity. We also understand very well that the entire world needs to get to a zero-carbon future.
非洲显然需要发展， 这是毋庸置疑的。 而我今天要谈论的是， 在考虑碳预算中的剩余额度时， 必须优先考虑非洲。 换句话说， 必须允许非洲在短期内实现更多的的碳排放以发展经济， 而与此同时，富裕的国家需要大大减少碳排放。 非洲人民有权追求其他所有人都享有的那种繁荣。我们也应该获得同等的工作机会、 教育机会、 尊严和其他发展机遇。我们也非常了解，在未来， 整个世界都需要一个零碳的未来。
This might sound contradictory, but consider these three points. First, Africa isn't the culprit of climate change. It's a victim. Africa and its more than one billion people are among the most vulnerable to climate change on the planet, facing the worst impacts of extreme weather, drought and heat. And yet, if you look at the carbon footprint of the entire African continent, 48 African countries combined are responsible for less than one percent of accumulative carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Even if every one of the one billion people in sub-Saharan Africa tripled their electricity consumption overnight, and if all of that new power came from natural gas-fired plants, we estimate that the additional CO2 that Africa would add would equal to just one percent of total global emissions.
这听起来可能很矛盾， 但请考虑以下这三点： 首先，非洲不是造成气候变化的罪魁祸首， 而是受害者。在全球的气候变化面前， 非洲的十几亿人口是最脆弱的群体， 受到极端天气、 干旱和高温的影响最为严重。但是，如果仔细看一下整个非洲大陆的碳足迹， 48个非洲国家的碳排放在大气二氧化碳总量中所占比例还不到1%。即使南部非洲十亿人口中的每一个人一夜之间的用电量增加了两倍， 而且所有的新能源都来自天然气发电厂， 我们估计， 非洲额外增加的碳排放也仅相当于全球总排放量的1％。
Second, Africa needs more energy to fight climate change, not less. Because of its climate vulnerability, Africa's climate fight is about adaptation and resilience, and climate adaptation is energy-intensive. To respond to extreme weather, Africans will need more resilient infrastructure. We're talking seawalls, highways, safe buildings and more. To cope with drought, Africans will need pumped irrigation for their agriculture, and many will need desalination for fresh water. And to survive soaring temperatures, Africans will need cold storage and ACs in hundreds of millions of homes, offices, warehouses, factories, data centers and the like. These are all energy-intensive activities. If we fail at mitigation, the rich countries' plan B for climate change is to simply adapt. Africans need and deserve that same capacity for adaptation.
第二，由于非洲的气候脆弱性， 要应对气候变化， 非洲反而需要消耗更多的能源。 非洲应对气候变化的斗争涉及适应和恢复能力， 而适应气候变化需要耗费大量能源。为了应对极端天气， 非洲人将需要抗风险能力更强的基础设施， 比如海堤、高速公路 安全建筑等等。为了应对干旱， 非洲人需要抽水灌溉农业， 许多人也需要淡化的水。为了忍受极端的高温， 在亿万非洲人的家庭、 办公室、仓库、工厂和数据中心等场所， 都需要冷藏设备和空调。这些都需要大量消耗能源。 如果我们没能很好的实现减排， 富裕国家应对气候变化时就会只采取替代计划——适应。 非洲人需要， 也应该具备同样的适应力。
Third, imposing mitigation on the world's poor is widening economic inequality. We're creating energy apartheid. Working in global energy and development, I often hear people say, "Because of climate, we just can't afford for everyone to live our lifestyles." That viewpoint is worse than patronizing. It's a form of racism, and it's creating a two-tier, global energy system with energy abundance for the rich and tiny solar lamps for Africans.
第三， 强迫贫穷的国家采用同样的减排措施会加剧经济上的不平等。 我们正在制造“能源种族隔离”。我从事的是 全球能源与发展方面的工作， 我经常听到人们说， “因为气候，我们无法承受让每个人都过上我们这样的生活。” 这种观点比居高临下的说教更糟。 这是种族主义的一种形式， 它正在建立一个上下分级的全球能源系统， 为富人提供丰富的能源， 而只为非洲人提供简陋的太阳能电灯。
The global market for natural gas is a great example of this. Large Western companies are actively developing gas fields in African countries to run industry and generate electricity in Asia or in Europe. And yet, when these same African countries want to build power plants at home to use gas for their own people, the Western development and finance communities say, "No, we won't fund that." And here's the irony. Many poor countries are already far ahead of the West when it comes to transitioning to a low-carbon energy system. In Kenya, where I'm from, we generate most of our electricity carbon-free. Renewable sources such as geothermal, hydro and wind provide nearly 80 percent of our electricity. In the US, that figure is only 17 percent.
全球天然气市场就是一个很好的例子。西方的大型公司正在非洲积极开发气田， 以保证亚洲或欧洲企业的能源供应。 然而，当同样的非洲国家想要在本国建造电厂， 造福本国人民时， 西方工业与金融界的人士就会说， “不，我们不会投资。” 更具有讽刺意味的是， 当谈及过渡到低碳能源系统时， 许多贫穷国家已经遥遥领先于西方。 在我的家乡肯尼亚，我们产生的大部分电力都是无碳的。 可再生能源， 例如地热、水电和风能， 保证了我们大约80％的电力供应。 在美国，这一数字仅为17％。
So let me repeat my points. Everyone must get to a zero-carbon future. In the transition, Africa and other poor nations deserve to get the balance of what's remaining in the world's carbon budget. For economic competitiveness, for climate adaptation, for global stability and for economic justice, rich and high-emitting countries must uphold their responsibility to lead on decarbonization, starting in their own economies.
因此，我要重申。 我们每个人都有义务实现一个零碳的未来。在过渡时期， 非洲和其他贫穷国家应该得到世界碳预算中剩余部分的额度。 为了提高经济竞争力、 适应气候性、 全球稳定 和经济公平， 富裕和高排放量的国家必须承担减少碳排放的义务， 而且要以身作则。
We all have a collective responsibility to turn the tide on climate change. If we fail, it won't be because Senegal or Kenya or Benin or Mali decided to build a handful of natural gas power plants to provide economic opportunity for their people.
我们都有责任扭转气候恶化。 如果我们失败了， 不会是因为塞内加尔、 肯尼亚、贝宁或马里决定建造几座天然气发电厂， 只为了给它们的人民提供经济机会。
Thank you.
谢谢。