螞蟻森林指路更好更綠的未來(lái)

拉奇納·古普塔

Ant Forest， a green initiative by the worlds leading payment and lifestyle platform Alipay， received the “U.N. Champions of the Earth” award in September.

The award is the United Nations highest environmental honor and was given to Ant Forest for galvanizing more than half a billion people to adopt an eco-friendly and greener lifestyle， thus greatly contributing to ecological protection with the help of digital technology.

Alipay achieved this remarkable feat by inspiring its users to choose from various low-carbon options in their daily lives， such as limited usage of paper and plastic， online payment of utility bills， and green travel using public transportation or bicycles instead of driving cars.

“Green energy points” are also allotted to users each time they opt for an eco-friendly option， and once sufficient points are accumulated， users are allowed to grow a virtual tree in their Ant Forest app.

Subsequently， a real tree is planted by Alipay and its philanthropic partners in lieu of the virtual tree in some of the countrys most arid regions. Users can view their trees in real-time via satellite.

The publicity generated is creating a virtuous cycle whereby more and more residents are encouraged to adopt low-carbon and energy-saving lifestyle.

The Ant Forest initiative was launched by the Alipay app in August 2016， and so far， the company has planted almost 122 million trees to revitalize the most arid regions such as Inner Mongolia， Gansu， Qinghai， and Shanxi.

The app has attracted more than 500 million users and has efficiently averted almost 7.9 million tons of carbon emissions by forming a tree coverage area of 112，000 hectares. With these numbers under its belt， the project has become the countrys largest private-sector tree-planting initiative.

According to Inger Andersen， executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme， “Ant Forest demonstrates how technology can reshape our world by harnessing the positive energy and innovation of global users.”

She further highlighted that “although the environmental challenges we face are daunting， we have the technology and the knowledge to conquer them and fundamentally redesign how we interact with the planet. Initiatives like Ant Forest tap into the best of human ingenuity and innovation to create a better world.”

This initiative of Ant Forest is also in line with the Chinese governments strategy of transforming the nation into a “Green Economy”. To accomplish this objective， the country is taking aggressive action in expanding its green coverage.

A research report published by NASA early this year highlighted that China has contributed to the increase in the worlds green leaf area by almost 25% in the last two decades， despite possessing only 6.6% of worlds vegetated area.

Out of this increase， 42% is due to afforestation while another 32% is a result of farming activities. Also， several forestation projects covering 6.6 million hectares， almost the size of Ireland， is underway in the northern parts of Hebei， Inner Mongolia and Qinghai to cover nearly 23% of the mainlands total land area with forests.

Additionally， China has been making persistent efforts since the 1970s to contain advancing desertification. For instance， the “Great Green Wall”， a gigantic anti-desertification program， was initiated in the countrys northern region in 1978 to restrain expansion of the Gobi Desert. Thus far， over 66 billion trees have been planted in the area.

Moreover， several laws related to the transformation of arid lands were put in place by the country in the early 2000s to facilitate revival of degraded farms and grasslands.

The Forestry Administrations monitoring report highlighted that desert lands in the country expanded between 1994 and 1999， but contracted from then until 2014. The study also mentioned that such areas had shrunk by 2，424 square kilometers per year in the past decade.

According to the United Nations， an alarming 1.8 billion people are expected to suffer severe water scarcity by 2025， while almost two-thirds of the worlds population would experience acute “water-stressed” conditions.

Already， a third of the planets fertile land has become extinct due to land degradation in the last 40 years. In addition， a landmass almost half the size of the European Union （4.18 million square kilometers） is converted into a degraded land every year， with Africa and Asia being the most impacted regions as a consequence of their increasing population.

It seems clear that unless governments， businesses， and people all come together to form a focused team， its difficult to contain global warming and its ensuing impact. Going by the warnings of climate scientists， the planet is at a tipping point which could result in unparalleled natural disasters unless urgent actions are taken immediately.

Here， Alipay Ant Forest shows that it is possible to make collective efforts while relying on digital technology for a better and greener future. Several more initiatives， from not just China but all across the globe， are utilizing technology to contribute towards a sustainable and inclusive future of the planet.

螞蟻森林是全球領(lǐng)先的支付生活平臺(tái)支付寶發(fā)起的一項(xiàng)綠色倡議活動(dòng)。2018年9月，它榮獲“聯(lián)合國(guó)地球衛(wèi)士獎(jiǎng)”。

這個(gè)獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)是聯(lián)合國(guó)在環(huán)境領(lǐng)域的最高榮譽(yù)。螞蟻森林獲此殊榮，是因?yàn)樗钄?shù)字科技之力，激勵(lì)超過(guò)五億人采用生態(tài)友好、更環(huán)保的生活方式，對(duì)生態(tài)保護(hù)貢獻(xiàn)極大。

支付寶取得如此卓越的成績(jī)，是通過(guò)鼓勵(lì)用戶在日常生活中做出各式各樣的低碳選擇，比如限制使用紙張和塑料、在線支付水電費(fèi)、綠色出行（即放棄開(kāi)車(chē)，轉(zhuǎn)而乘坐公共交通或騎自行車(chē)出行）。

用戶每選擇一個(gè)生態(tài)友好選項(xiàng)，就會(huì)獲得“綠色能量值”，一旦積累了足夠的數(shù)值，就可以在螞蟻森林程序內(nèi)種植一棵虛擬樹(shù)。

隨后，支付寶及其慈善合作伙伴會(huì)在中國(guó)某些最為干旱的地區(qū)種植一棵真樹(shù)以代之。用戶可以通過(guò)衛(wèi)星實(shí)時(shí)觀看他們的樹(shù)。

這個(gè)活動(dòng)的推廣正在形成一種良性循環(huán)：越來(lái)越多的居民受其鼓舞，采取低碳、節(jié)能的生活方式。

支付寶在2016年8月發(fā)起了螞蟻森林倡議，迄今為止，種植了約1.22億棵樹(shù)，為內(nèi)蒙古、甘肅、青海和山西等最干旱地區(qū)注入了活力。

支付寶吸引了超過(guò)5億用戶，開(kāi)發(fā)了11.2萬(wàn)公頃樹(shù)木覆蓋區(qū)，有效避免了約790萬(wàn)噸碳排放。有此驕人成就，螞蟻森林項(xiàng)目已成為中國(guó)私營(yíng)企業(yè)最大的植樹(shù)倡議活動(dòng)。

聯(lián)合國(guó)環(huán)境規(guī)劃署執(zhí)行主任英格·安德森說(shuō)：“螞蟻森林展示了科技如何利用全球用戶的正能量和創(chuàng)新力來(lái)重塑我們的世界?！?/p>

她進(jìn)一步強(qiáng)調(diào)說(shuō)，“雖然我們面臨艱巨的環(huán)境挑戰(zhàn)，但我們擁有技術(shù)和知識(shí)，可以征服這些挑戰(zhàn)，并從根本上重構(gòu)我們與地球的互動(dòng)方式。像螞蟻森林這樣的倡議活動(dòng)將人類(lèi)才智和創(chuàng)新挖掘到極致，讓世界變得更美好”。

螞蟻森林倡議也合乎中國(guó)政府的戰(zhàn)略——舉國(guó)轉(zhuǎn)向“綠色經(jīng)濟(jì)”。為了完成這個(gè)目標(biāo)，中國(guó)正采取積極措施以擴(kuò)大綠化覆蓋面積。

2019年年初，美國(guó)國(guó)家航空航天局發(fā)布了一份研究報(bào)告。該報(bào)告強(qiáng)調(diào)說(shuō)，雖然中國(guó)的植被面積只占世界的6.6%，但過(guò)去20年，中國(guó)對(duì)世界綠葉面積增量貢獻(xiàn)了近25%。

中國(guó)綠葉面積增加，42%是由于植樹(shù)造林，另有32%是來(lái)自于農(nóng)業(yè)活動(dòng)。而且，在河北、內(nèi)蒙古和青海三地的北部，有好幾個(gè)造林項(xiàng)目已經(jīng)啟動(dòng)，總體覆蓋660萬(wàn)公頃土地，相當(dāng)于愛(ài)爾蘭的大小，要讓中國(guó)大陸陸地區(qū)域的森林覆蓋率達(dá)近23%。

此外，自1970年代以來(lái)，中國(guó)就一直致力于遏制荒漠化蔓延。比如，1978年在中國(guó)北部啟動(dòng)的“綠色長(zhǎng)城”就是一個(gè)規(guī)模龐大的防治荒漠化項(xiàng)目，旨在限制戈壁沙漠的擴(kuò)張。迄今為止，已在中國(guó)北方地區(qū)種植了超過(guò)660億棵樹(shù)。

而且，在2000年代早期，為了幫助復(fù)原退化的農(nóng)場(chǎng)和草場(chǎng)，中國(guó)制定了好幾項(xiàng)涉及改造干旱區(qū)的法律。

林業(yè)局的監(jiān)測(cè)報(bào)告顯示，雖然1994年至1999年年間，中國(guó)的荒漠地帶向外擴(kuò)張，但從1999年到2014年，中國(guó)的荒漠地帶向內(nèi)收縮。這份研究還提到，過(guò)去10年，荒漠地區(qū)每年縮減2424平方公里。

據(jù)聯(lián)合國(guó)預(yù)測(cè)，到2025年，有18億人會(huì)遭遇嚴(yán)重缺水危機(jī)，這一數(shù)字觸目驚心。而與此同時(shí)，有近三分之二的全球人口會(huì)經(jīng)歷嚴(yán)峻的供水緊張狀況。

過(guò)去40年，由于土地退化，全球已有三分之一的沃土變得貧瘠。此外，每年有418萬(wàn)平方公里的地塊退化，大約是半個(gè)歐盟的面積，其中非洲、亞洲因人口不斷增長(zhǎng)，受害最深。

顯然，除非政府、企業(yè)和人們聯(lián)合起來(lái)，集中發(fā)力，否則很難抑制全球氣候變暖及其后續(xù)影響。正如氣候?qū)W家所警告的那樣，地球正處在一個(gè)臨界點(diǎn)，如不立刻采取緊急行動(dòng)，可能會(huì)引發(fā)前所未有的自然災(zāi)難。

現(xiàn)在，支付寶螞蟻森林表明，以數(shù)字科技集眾人之努力，創(chuàng)造更好更綠的未來(lái)是可行的。另外幾項(xiàng)來(lái)自中國(guó)和全球各地的倡議也在利用科技為一個(gè)可持續(xù)發(fā)展、包容廣闊的未來(lái)作出貢獻(xiàn)。

（譯者為“《英語(yǔ)世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)撸?/p>

重大國(guó)家戰(zhàn)略常用關(guān)鍵詞英文譯法（一）

——黃河流域生態(tài)保護(hù)和高質(zhì)量發(fā)展

1. 黃河流域生態(tài)保護(hù)和高質(zhì)量發(fā)展 ecological conservation and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin （YB Conservation and Development）

2. 保護(hù)、傳承、弘揚(yáng)黃河文化 to preserve， inherit and promote the Yellow River culture

3. 黃河安瀾 When the Yellow River is harnessed， China will enjoy tranquility.

4. 以水而定、量水而行 to use Yellow River water resources as its capacity permits

5. 共同抓好大保護(hù)，協(xié)同推進(jìn)大治理 to work together to protect and harness the Yellow River

6. 黃河長(zhǎng)治久安 to keep the Yellow River harnessed

7. 宜水則水、宜山則山，宜糧則糧、宜農(nóng)則農(nóng)，宜工則工、宜商則商 to make use of the water and mountain resources， grow crops， and develop agriculture， industry or business where conditions permit

8. 山水林田湖草綜合治理、系統(tǒng)治理、源頭治理 to protect mountains， rivers， forests， farmlands， lakes and grasslands and address their degradation at the source in a coordinated way