聯合國祕書長潘基文年世界防治荒漠化日致辭

"Healthy soil sustains your life: Let's go land degradation neutral"

"健康土壤維繫生命:讓我們遏制土地退化"

The World Day to Combat Desertification falls this year on the eve of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable al efforts to halt and reverse land degradation are integral to creating the future we ainable land use is a prerequisite for lifting billions from poverty, enabling food and nutrition security, and safeguarding water supplies. It is a cornerstone of sustainable development.

今年的世界防治荒漠化日適值聯合國可持續發展大會開幕前夕。全球努力阻止和逆轉土地退化，對於創建我們所期待的未來不可或缺。可持續土地使用是使數十億人脫貧、維護糧食和營養安全、以及保障供水的先決條件，是可持續發展的一個基石。

The people who live in the world's arid lands, which occupy more than 40 per cent of our planet's land area, are among the poorest and most vulnerable to hunger. We will not achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 without preserving the soils on which their subsistence depends.

世界旱地佔全球土地面積的40%以上，生活在旱地上的人民最爲貧窮，也最容易遭受饑荒。如果不對他們賴以生存的土壤進行保護，我們將不可能在2015年實現千年發展目標。

Nor will we be able to guarantee our freshwater resources, 70 per cent of which are already used for 2030 the demand for water is projected to rise by 35 per cent. Unless we change our land-use practices, we face the prospect of diminishing and inadequate water supplies, as well as more frequent and intense droughts.

我們也將沒有能力保證我們的淡水資源，其中70%已經爲農業所用。到2030年，供水需求預計將增加35%。除非改變土地使用方法，我們都將面臨供水日漸減少和短缺的前景，乾旱也將更加頻繁和劇烈。

Further, by 2050, we will need sufficient productive land to feed an estimated 9 billion people with per capita consumption levels greater than those of will be impossible if soil loss continues at its current pace - an annual loss of 75 billion tons. Important land-use decisions need to be made, as well as critical investments ranging from extension services for small farmers to the latest technology to support environmentally sustainable mass food production.

而且，到2050年，我們需要有充足的生產性土地來養活大約90億人民，並且其人均消耗量高於今天。如果土壤流失維持當前速度，即每年流失750億噸，養活如此衆多人口的任務將不可能實現。必須做出重要的土地使用決定以及關鍵性投資，從面向小農場主的推廣服務，到支持環境可持續型大規模糧食生產的最新技術。

Rio+20 is our opportunity to showcase the many smart and effective land management systems and options that exist or are in the pipeline. Twenty years on from the adoption of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, let us ensure that a commitment to sustainable land management features prominently in the official outcome at Rio and in the wider mobilization for sustainability that will also be part of Rio's legacy. Without healthy soil, life on Earth is unsustainable.

里約+20會議使我們有機會展示許多已經存在或者正在制訂的智能型有效土地管理制度和備選方案。距離《聯合國防治荒漠化公約》通過已有二十年，讓我們確保在里約會議正式成果以及在也將成爲里約遺產的更廣泛的可持續能力動員方案中，突出展現對可持續土地管理的承諾。沒有健康的土壤，地球上的生命不可能持續。