Despite Wars, Earthquakes and Hurricanes, U.N. Cuts Appeal for Aid 戰爭、地震和颶風四起 聯合國反降募款目標


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2024/02/09 第471期 訂閱/退訂看歷史報份
 
 
紐時周報精選 Despite Wars, Earthquakes and Hurricanes, U.N. Cuts Appeal for Aid 戰爭、地震和颶風四起 聯合國反降募款目標
Projects for Offshore Wind Stall As Supply and Funding Sputter 供應鏈與資金問題阻停美東風電
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Despite Wars, Earthquakes and Hurricanes, U.N. Cuts Appeal for Aid 戰爭、地震和颶風四起 聯合國反降募款目標
文/Nick Cumming-Bruce
譯/陳曉慈

戰爭、地震和颶風四起 聯合國反降募款目標

The United Nations has cut its appeal for humanitarian aid in the coming year by nearly 20%, saying that it has to focus on only the most urgent cases, even as the number of people facing conflict and climate emergencies grows sharply.

聯合國已將明年的人道援助募款目標額削減近20%,他們表示,雖然面臨衝突及氣候緊急狀況的人數急遽增加,但他們必須只聚焦在最緊急的案例上。

The move comes as the U.N. has so far received only about a third of the funding requested for this year. Against that backdrop, the organization says it has been forced to focus its appeal for 2024 on aid for those in only the most life-threatening circumstances.

採取這項行動之際,聯合國今年僅募得約三分之一所需資金。在此情況下,聯合國表示,他們被迫將2024年的援助募款聚焦於生命受到最嚴重威脅的人們身上。

About 300 million people will require urgent humanitarian assistance next year, according to calculations by U.N. agencies and about 1,900 partner organizations. Nonetheless, the U.N. on Monday asked for a total of $46 billion, compared with the $57 billion it sought in 2023.

聯合國機構和約1900個合作組織估計,明年約3億人需要緊急人道援助。儘管如此,聯合國周一宣布募捐的目標總額為460億美元,而2023年則是570億美元。

"It's not because there is no need," Martin Griffiths, the U.N. aid chief, said of the reduced aid request. "The necessary support from the international community is not keeping pace with the needs."

聯合國援助事務負責人葛瑞菲斯說,募款目標縮減不是因為沒需求,而是「來自國際社會的必要支持跟不上需求」。

The number of people forced from their homes by conflict or climate emergencies is at record levels for this century, the U.N. said in its appeal. Some 258 million people in 58 countries who are facing armed violence, flooding or severe drought are now acutely short of food, including nearly 14 million children at imminent risk of death.

聯合國在募款文中表示,因衝突或氣候緊急情況所迫而流離失所的人數,已創本世紀新高。來自約58國的2.58億人面臨武裝暴力、洪災或嚴重乾旱等威脅,糧食嚴重短缺,其中近1400萬名孩童更面臨迫在眉睫的死亡風險。

But despite extreme natural disasters this year, including earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, and Cyclone Freddy in Southern Africa, as well as wars in the Gaza Strip, Sudan and Ukraine, countries have failed to donate anywhere near the $57 billion target. Although donations always fall short of the total requested, funding for U.N. aid programs actually dropped in 2023 for the first time in 13 years — through the end of November, they had received a total of $20 billion, $4 billion less than the previous year.

今年極端自然災害肆虐,包括土耳其、敘利亞地震和非南熱帶氣旋弗萊迪等,而加薩走廊、蘇丹及烏克蘭等地的戰火也持續延燒,儘管如此,來自各國的捐款離目標570億美元仍有一大段距離。雖然每年的捐款都少於目標金額,但今年卻是聯合國援助計畫13年來首度出現捐款下滑趨勢;截至11月底,聯合國僅收到200億美元,比去年還少40億美元。

High among priorities for 2024 will be Gaza, where Israel's war with Hamas has displaced most of the enclave's 2.2 million people and destroyed much of its housing and civilian infrastructure.

2024年優先事項的重點將是加薩,以色列與哈瑪斯在這塊飛地的戰爭,已導致220萬居民多半流離失所,並破壞當地許多住宅及民生基礎設施。

Fighting in Sudan, where 10 months of war have left 30 million people in need of support, means that country and the Middle East are expected to swallow close to a third of the total aid budget for the coming year.

延燒10個月的蘇丹戰爭導致3000萬人需要援助,這也意味蘇丹及中東預計將用掉未來一年援助預算總額近三分之一。

 
Projects for Offshore Wind Stall As Supply and Funding Sputter 供應鏈與資金問題阻停美東風電
文/ Ivan Penn, Stanley Reed and
譯/高詣軒

供應鏈與資金問題阻停美東風電

A few years ago, interest in offshore wind energy was so strong that developers proposed spending tens of billions of dollars to plunk hundreds of turbines the size of skyscrapers in the Atlantic Ocean from Maine to Virginia.

幾年前,針對離岸風能的強大興趣,讓開發商提議花費數百億美元,在緬因州至維吉尼亞州的大西洋外海,架設數百座尺寸堪比摩天大樓的風電渦輪機。

But several of those projects have recently hit the skids after executives miscalculated the impact that the pandemic and rising interest rates would have on supply chains. The industry has found it much more difficult to manufacture, transport and erect wind turbines than it had expected. Just two dozen or so turbines have been installed in U.S. waters, compared with more than 6,000 in Europe, which has been building offshore wind farms for decades.

但企業高層主管錯估了疫情及利率上揚對供應鏈造成的衝擊,那些計畫有不少在最近碰上困境。業界已發現,製造、運輸及豎立風電渦輪機比預期困難得多。美國海域至今僅有約20多座渦輪機完成設置,相較之下,歐洲數十年來持續興建離岸風電場,渦輪機已逾6000座。

As a result, the cost of offshore wind energy will be higher than anticipated, and its climate and economic benefits will, in some cases, arrive years later than expected.

因此,美國離岸風能的成本將比預期還要高,而在部分案例中,其氣候和經濟利益會比預期遲到數年。

Some wind farms may be delayed. Others may never be built.

部分風力電場可能會延宕,有的可能永遠不會興建。

To date, Eastern states have awarded contracts to build roughly two dozen offshore wind farms with 21 gigawatts of electric capacity, or enough to meet the needs of more than 6 million homes. But developers have canceled or asked to renegotiate rates for nearly half that capacity.

截至目前,美國東部幾個州已發出要興建約20多座離岸風電場的合約,發電容量共計21百萬瓩,足以滿足600多萬戶住家需求。但這些發電量中有將近半數,開發商已喊停或要求重新協商費率。

Orsted, a Danish company that has built around two dozen offshore wind farms, mostly in Europe, has canceled two giant arrays planned for waters off New Jersey and is reconsidering two more intended to serve New York and Maryland. The company said it would be writing off as much as $5.6 billion. BP, which paid $1.1 billion for a 50% stake in the Norwegian energy company Equinor's U.S. offshore wind portfolio in 2020, recently wrote off $540 million of its investment.

丹麥沃旭能源已經建造大約20多座離岸風電場,其中大多位於歐洲,該公司已取消在新澤西州外海計畫建造的兩座大型風力發電陣列,並正在重新考慮另外兩座旨在為紐約州、馬里蘭州供電的風電場。該公司表示這會讓資產減損多達56億美元。英國石油公司於2020年斥資11億美元,收購挪威能源公司Equinor的美國離岸風電投資組合50%股分,最近將這項投資認列減損5.4億美元。

States like New York and Massachusetts are scrambling to save projects — and appear to be acknowledging that they will need to pay higher prices for the electricity generated by offshore turbines than they had expected.

紐約州、麻州等州正急忙設法挽救計畫,也似乎承認他們將需為離岸風機產生的電力支付比預期更高價格。

Energy executives say the industry is learning from its mistakes and making investments that should pay off in the coming years. Dominion Energy, a large utility based in Virginia, is moving ahead with a massive wind farm and is spending $625 million on the first U.S.-built ship capable of hauling the more than 300-foot-long blades and other components for wind turbines out to sea.

能源業者高層說,產業正從錯誤中學習,會從事未來數年就應會回本的投資。道明尼能源公司是總部在維吉尼亞州的大型公用事業業者,正在推動一座大型風電場,並花費6.25億美元,打造第一艘能將300多英尺長葉片及其他風力渦輪機部件運送到海上的美國製船隻。

 
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