Message on World Day to Combat Desertification
防治荒漠化和干旱世界日致辞
17 June 2016
2016年6月17日
“Protect Earth. Restore land. Engage people”
“护土复田，依靠人民”
Desertification, land degradation, drought and climate change are interconnected. As a result of land degradation and climate change, the severity and frequency of droughts have been increasing, along with floods and extreme temperatures. More than 50 per cent of agricultural land is moderately or severely degraded, with 12 million hectares lost to production each year.
荒漠化、土地退化、干旱和气候变化相互关联。由于土壤退化和气候变化，干旱日益严重和频繁，洪泛灾害和极端气温也愈告猖獗。50%以上的耕地都有不同程度的退化，每年有1200万公顷土地退出耕植。
The livelihoods and well-being of hundreds of millions of people are at stake. Nearly 800 million people are chronically undernourished as a direct consequence of land degradation, declining soil fertility, unsustainable water use, drought and biodiversity loss. Over the next 25 years, land degradation could reduce global food productivity by as much as 12 per cent, leading to a 30 per cent increase in world food prices.
数亿人的生计福祉岌岌可危。土地退化，土壤肥力下降，用水方式无法持续，干旱肆虐和生物多样性丧失，这直接造成近8亿人长期营养不良。在今后25年中，土地退化有可能使全球粮食产量下降12%，世界粮价上升30%。
Without a long-term solution, desertification and land degradation will not only affect food supply but lead to increased migration and threaten the stability of many nations and regions. This is why world leaders made land degradation neutrality one of the targets of theSustainable Development Goals. That means rehabilitating at least 12 million hectares of degraded land a year.
若无一项长期解决办法，荒漠化和土地退化就不仅会影响粮食供应，而且还会刺激移徙，危及许多国家和区域的稳定。正因为此，世界各国领导人把土地退化零增长订为《可持续发展目标》的具体目标之一。这意味着每年需要恢复至少1200万公顷退化土地。
One important approach is sustainable, climate-smart agriculture. This will not only help communities to build resilience to climate change, it will also support mitigation by taking carbon from the atmosphere and putting it back in the soil. The transition to sustainable agriculture will also alleviate poverty and generate employment, especially among the world’s poorest. By 2050, it could create some 200 million jobs across the entire food production system.
一个重要的对策便是可持续的气候智能型农业。它不仅将帮助社区建立抵御气候变化的能力，而且还将把大气中的碳返还土壤，以达缓解。向可持续农业过渡还将减轻贫穷，创造就业，特别是造福世界最贫穷者。到2050年，整个粮食生产系统可创造2亿个就业机会。
Our theme for this year’s World Day to Combat Desertification is: “Protect Earth. Restore land. Engage people.” On this Day, I urge cooperation among all actors to help achieve land degradation neutrality as part of a broader effort to achieve theSustainable Development Goalsand build a future of dignity and opportunity for all.
我们今年防治荒漠化和干旱世界日的主题是“护土复田，依靠人民”。值此世界日，我敦促所有行为体在力争实现《可持续发展目标》和建立一个人人享有尊严和机会的未来这一伟大事业中，通力合作，实现土地退化零增长。