million, which will be used for conservation efforts in Ecuador's Galapagos Islands. Belize, home to the longest coral reef in the Western Hemisphere, has implemented a project that helped the country to reduce its external debt by 10 percent of its GDP.

去年，厄瓜多尔政府在私人银行瑞士信贷和美国开发银行的支持下实施了一项创新的绿色协议。根据这项协议，政府以较低的利率重新融资了 16 亿美元的债券，并发行了所谓的蓝色债券（这些债券工具用于资助保护关键的清洁水资源，以及海洋和基于海洋的项目）。这笔低息贷款每年可节省约 1200万美元，这些资金用于厄瓜多尔加拉帕戈斯群岛的保护工作。伯利兹拥有西半球最长的珊瑚礁，该国实施了一个项目，帮助该国减少了约合国内生产总值 10%的外债。

Several developing countries such as Gabon, Sri Lanka, Cape Verde and Laos are in the process of developing debt restructuring programs, similar to the ones mentioned.

诸如加蓬、斯里兰卡、佛得角和老挝等几个发展中国家正在制定类似的债务重组方案。

Many developing nations are confronted with the challenge of repaying their debts while also taking action to combat climate change. Many depend on exports of primary resources, such as fossil fuels or timber. However, those resources are crucial for both carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation. Some countries are paying their creditors more than 13 times what they spend on climate action, despite natural catastrophes caused by climate change having the potential to severely impede or even halt their economic development.

许多发展中国家面临着既要偿还债务，又要采取行动应对气候变化的挑战。众多国家依赖矿物燃料或木材等初级资源的出口。然而，这些资源对于固碳和保护生物多样性都是至关重要的。尽管气候变化引起的自然灾害有可能严重阻碍甚至阻止其经济发展，但一些国家向债权人支付的金额是其在气候行动上支出的 13 倍以上。

According to the OECD, developing countries will require approximately $2.4 trillion annually to tackle the issue of climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change also suggests that annual climate finance for developing countries should increase by four to eight times by 2030.

根据经合组织的数据，发展中国家每年需要大约 2.4 万亿美元来应对气候变化问题。政府间气候变化专门委员会还建议，到 2030 年，发展中国家的年度气候融资应增加四到八倍。

However, wealthy nations have no serious plans to assist them in reducing their carbon emissions. At last year's COP28 in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, they only agreed to offer $400 million through a new "loss and damage "fund.

Meanwhile, developing nations are estimated to lose around $400 billion each year due to climate change.

然而，富裕国家并没有严肃的计划以协助它们减少碳排放。在去年迪拜举办的第 28 届气候大会上，他们只同意通过一个新的“损失和损害”基金提供 4亿美元。与此同时，据估计，发展中国家每年因气候变化损失约 4000 亿美元。

Generating additional funding for sustainable development is possible by obtaining new loans. In fact, in 2020, 71 percent of government climate finance was procured in this manner. Over 50 of the poorest developing nations are facing the risk of defaulting on their debts, which could lead to virtual bankruptcy. This includes 28 of the 50 countries in the world that are most vulnerable to climate change. Even though these countries make up only 3 percent of the global economy, they account for more than half of the people living in extreme poverty.

通过获取新贷款来为可持续发展筹集额外资金是可能的。事实上，2020 年，71%的政府气候资金是通过这种方式获得的。超过 50 个最贫困的发展中国家面临着违约风险，这可能导致实际上的破产。其中包括全球 50 个最容易受气候变化影响的国家中的 28 个。尽管这些国家仅占全球经济的 3%，但它们占极端贫困人口的一半以上。

The escalating sovereign debt crisis results from inadequate macroeconomic management in most recipient countries and global external shocks from the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing major conflicts and climate-related disasters. These adverse developments have hindered worldwide economic growth and resulted in increased borrowing costs. Consequently, the debt load on many impoverished nations is rapidly growing.

主权债务危机不断升级的原因是，大多数受援国宏观经济管理不足，以及 2019 冠状病毒病大流行、持续的重大冲突和与气候有关的灾害等全球外部冲击。这些不利因素阻碍了全球经济增长，并导致借贷成本增加。因此，许多贫穷国家的债务负担正在迅速增加。

Yet debt swaps, a method gaining popularity among donors and recipients, has some drawbacks that must be considered. One of the main concerns is the high transaction costs involved in implementing the mechanism, and this approach only postpones the debt problem and does not offer a permanent solution. There is also a lack of effective methods so far to monitor the environmental benefits expected from the programs.

然而，债务互换这种在捐助国和受援国中越来越受欢迎的方法，也有一些必须考虑的缺点。主要的关切之一是执行这一机制所涉及的高交易费用，而这种办法只是推迟了债务问题，并没有提供永久的解决办法。到目前为止，还缺乏有效的方法来监测这些项目所带来的环境效益。

Implementing the debt-for-environment swap mechanism will face difficulties due to the diverse range of public and private creditors involved. Moreover, some recipients may try to avoid default or debt write-offs to preserve their credit ratings and continue to access markets. It is important to note that not all countries facing financial difficulties will opt for radical debt restructuring.

由于涉及的公共和私人债权人的范围各不相同，实施债务换环境的机制将面临困难。此外，一些受援国可能会尝试避免违约或债务减免，以维持其信用评级并继续获得市场准入。值得注意的是，并非所有面临财政困难的国家都会选择进行彻底的债务重组。

Business as usual will not stop the climate crisis. Wealthy countries that have achieved high living standards for centuries by polluting the environment and extracting resources from developing countries must lead the process of cleaning up the mess they have created. Although the world's rich countries have not yet provided climate finance on the scale needed, it is not too late to act.

一切照旧不会阻止气候危机。几个世纪以来，富裕国家通过污染环境和从发展中国家榨取资源而实现了高生活水平，它们必须带头清理自己制造的烂摊子。尽管世界上的富裕国家尚未提供所需规模的气候融资，但现在采取行动还为时不晚。

During COP28 held last year, the governments of Colombia, Kenya and France jointly proposed the formation of a Global Expert Review on Debt, Nature and Climate. This review aims to evaluate the impact of debt on the ability of low- and medium-income countries to tackle climate change by preserving nature, adapting to climate change, and decarbonizing their economies. Many nations believe that addressing the debt and climate crises in tandem presents a more promising solution than dealing with them separately.

在去年举办的第 28 届气候大会上，哥伦比亚、肯尼亚和法国政府共同提议成立一个全球债务、自然和气候问题专家评审组。此评审旨在评估债务对低收入和中等收入国家通过保护自然、适应气候变化和去碳化经济来应对气候变化能力的影响。许多国家认为，将债务和气候危机并行解决比单独处理更有希望。

In Charles Darwin's words: "… in the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed".

用查尔斯·达尔文的话说：“在人类（以及动物界）的漫长历史中，那些最有效地合作和即兴创作的人取得了胜利”。

本文仅代表作者个人观点。

英文原文发表于中国日报 (China Daily)

原文链接： https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202403/13/WS65f0edb3a31082fc043bc480.html本文由北师大一带一路学院康宁翻译