Anote Tong: My country will be underwater soon -- unless we work together
安诺 汤: 国家兴亡,匹夫有责
Anote Tong has built worldwide awareness of the potentially devastating impacts of climate change. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
by just telling us about your country.
Those dots are pretty huge.
is about the size of California.
by saying how deeply grateful I am
请允许我表达一下我真挚的谢意
with people who do care.
a lot of people who don't care too much.
of three groups of islands:
is perhaps the only country
in the four corners of the world,
in the Southern Hemisphere,
of the International Date Line.
made up of coral atolls,
two meters above sea level.
than two kilometers in width.
I've been asked by people,
why don't you move back?"
为什么不搬回来呢?”
of what it is that's involved.
"Well, you can move back."
他们说,“你可以搬回来的”
on the other side of the ocean. OK?
我们会掉进海洋的另一端,明白吗?
that people don't understand.
just a picture of fragility there.
你们的国家有燃眉之急。
impending peril for your country?
has been one that has been going on
at the United Nations General Assembly,
this controversy among the scientists
whether it was real or it wasn't.
全球变暖是否真正存在
was fairly much concluded in 2007
Report of the IPCC,
that it is real, it's human-induced,
some very serious scenarios
the predictions came in 2007,
I think, that by 2100,
我想,预测是,到2100年
perhaps three feet.
it's higher than that, for sure,
to a skeptic who said,
six feet above sea level.
it's got to be understood
我认为人们一定要知道一件事,
we are getting the swells at the moment.
that is happening in the future.
bottom end of the spectrum.
who already have been dislocated.
and every parliament session,
而且每次议会开会,
from different communities
about the freshwater lens
to the different islands,
with the loss of food crops,
perhaps leaving, having to relocate,
suffered its first cyclone,
你的祖国迎来了史上第一次飓风
What happened here?
对吧?那里发生了什么?
that when you're on the equator,
We're not supposed to get the cyclones.
either north or south.
也是我们把它们送到南北两侧
at the beginning of this year,
which destroyed Vanuatu,
the very edges of it actually touched
when Hurricane Pam struck.
from my own constituency,
which had been there for decades,
about the rising sea level,
that happens gradually.
it comes with the swells,
is the change in the weather pattern,
亲眼看到最严峻的挑战
than perhaps the rising sea level.
is already seeing effects now.
已经在见证气候变化的影响了
as a country, as a nation?
this story every year.
to try and get people to understand.
I think I spoke in Geneva
who was interviewing me
at floating islands,"
but somebody said,
These people are looking for solutions."
这些人在寻找措施。”
at floating islands.
in building floating islands.
we have made a commitment
我们做出这样的一个承诺,
we will try as much as possible
something quite significant,
to continue to stay out of the water
and as the storms get more severe.
very, very difficult
that we would need.
is some form of forced migration.
唯一的办法是某种形式的逼迫性迁移
that nothing comes forward
like what's happening in Europe.
at some point in time.
to give the people the choice today,
and want to do that, to migrate.
that they are forced to migrate
our society is very different,
我们的社会也很不同
into a different environment,
of adjustments that are required.
in your country's past,
你的国家的人民曾经被迫迁移
or the day before yesterday,
I think somebody was asking
to visit that place.
a community of Kiribati people
因为有一群基里巴斯人
of the Solomon Islands,
from the Phoenix Islands, in fact,
could not continue to live on the island,
而那些人不能继续居住在那个岛屿上 了
to live here in the Solomon Islands.
to meet with these people.
They hadn't heard of me.
the opportunity to welcome me formally.
was very interesting
they spoke back, they replied,
当然,他们也回答了,也回复了
not to be able to speak Kiribati properly.
他们开始不能正确地说基里巴斯语了
this lady with red teeth.
the local people here,
there are bound to be changes.
a certain loss of identity,
looking for in the future
just an extraordinarily emotional day
那一定是一个不同寻常的感性的一天
an emphasized sense of what they had lost.
更强烈地意识到他们损失了什么
you're going to fight to the end
会一直让你的祖国不改变当前的位置
the nation in a location.
a very difficult decision for me.
to leave your island, your home,
你不会计划离开你的岛屿,你的家
on a number of occasions,
and I've tried to live with it,
我尝试这容忍它
of not trying to solve the problem
我被人指责,说我没有努力解决问题
to be done collectively.
and as I've often argued,
而且,如同我经常讲的一样
when we come to the United Nations --
当我们来到联合国的时候
the Pacific Island Forum countries
are also members,
that to cut emissions,
that they're unable to do
to weigh this, these moral issues.
the survival of a people.
what made you angry,
我昨天问你什么惹你生气
But then you paused.
但是之后你停顿了一下
statement at the United Nations.
我之前在联合国发表的观点
and then depressed.
that we have no hope of winning.
to somebody who was rational,
whatever that is.
无论那是什么意思。
of your nation's identity is fishing.
渔业是你们国家身份的核心,
is involved in fishing in some way.
都在某个程度上和渔业有关
every day, every day,
that our rate of consumption of fish
我们国家的鱼的消费率
both at the local level
你们在地方上和国家
that the country receives
you took a very radical step.
你做了很理智的一个决定
right here in the Phoenix Islands.
在菲尼克斯岛屿上,有件事情发生了
of what fish means for us.
tuna fisheries remaining in the world.
something like 60 percent
for some species, but not all.
但不是所有的物种
major resource owners,
金枪鱼资源
percent of our revenue
在学校和其他一切我们有的
schools and what have you.
and it was a very difficult decision.
而且,这是一个非常艰难的决定
locally, it was not easy,
这都是一个很困难的决定
that the fishery remains sustainable.
that some of the species,
was under serious threat.
and so that was the reason I did that.
这就是我这么做的原因
the international community
in order to fight climate change,
there has got to be commitment.
to make a sacrifice,
need to make that sacrifice.
what that loss would be
at the beginning of this year,
of the lost revenue.
playing into this.
所以有很多的事情涉及到了这个问题
it may prompt healthier fisheries.
to move the price up
have been very difficult,
to raise the cost of a vessel day.
to come in to fish for a day,
it was $6,000 and $8,000,
that significant increase.
what's important to note is,
我所要说的更重要的是
and maybe catch 10 tons,
because they've become so efficient.
因为它们变得很有效率
because the technology has so improved.
因为科技进步了很多
moved from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
if they could, per se.
and they've become so efficient.
他们变得很有效率
of what it's like in those negotiations?
你能大概给我们透露一下这些谈判是什么样吗?
of dollars at stake, essentially.
with the same companies
the most for your country,
too often on licensing
如果是在码头卖鱼的话
from license fees
of the landed value of the catch
not in the retail shops.
to do over the years
our participation in the industry,
we have to become more involved.
that the world has changed.
for your local fishermen,
对于当地的捕鱼人
Are the waters depleted?
on a sustainable basis?
in the commercial fishing activity
entirely for the foreign market,
to be able to catch yellowfin
out of the water by the hundreds of tons
of beautiful girls from your country.
这里有一些来自你的国家的一些美丽的女孩
would you have for the world?
that we really have to do something
对于全球变暖
the future of these children.
这是我们的孩子的未来
about the same age as these young girls,
他们大概和这些女孩子们年龄相仿
their own national interest,
regrettably, unfortunately,
as a national problem. It's not.
we got into recently with our partners,
"We can't cut any more."
the Australian leader, said,
we are cutting back.
Why don't you keep it?
the rest of your emissions
within your borders,
you're sending it our way,
你把这些温室气体送到我们这里来了
the future of our children.
of the problem of climate change today.
at the end of this year,
as a global phenomenon,
individually, as nations,
以个人,或国家的形式造成的
to do anything about it,
dealt with collectively.
at responding to graphs and numbers,
人们在回应图表和数字方面很差
at responding to that sometimes.
在人与人之间的对话中,我们沟通的更好
very possible that your nation,
the intense problems you face,
to the world that shines most visibly,
I'm sure, on behalf of all of us,
and for being here.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Anote Tong - President of the Republic of KiribatiAnote Tong has built worldwide awareness of the potentially devastating impacts of climate change.
Why you should listen
His Excellency Anote Tong is the fourth President of the Republic of Kiribati. He was first elected as President on 10 July 2003 and subsequently won two more elections in 2007 and in 2012. He is now serving his last term, which will end in mid-2015. Under his leadership, President Anote Tong also holds the portfolio of Head of State and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration.
Anote Tong was born in 1952 on Fanning Island (also known as Tabuaeran) in the Line Islands and is a member of the Kiribati House of Parliament from the constituency of Maiana Island in the central Kiribati group.
Educated in New Zealand and in England at the University of Canterbury and the London School of Economics respectively, President Tong holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Economics under his belt.
Since the beginning of his presidency, President Anote Tong has become a strong climate change advocate and has built worldwide awareness of the potentially devastating impacts of climate change.
He has stated on many occasions that Kiribati may cease to exist altogether and that its entire population may need to be resettled not as climate change refugees but as citizens who migrate on merit and with dignity.
With one of the lowest carbon-emission footprints in the world, Tong has often described Kiribati as a “frontline country” that has been among the first to experience dramatic climate change impacts.
As an extraordinary measure to set an example for the rest of the world, President Tong created the Phoenix Islands Protected Area, one of the largest marine protected areas in the world with a size of 408,250 square kilometers which was inscribed as a United Nations World Heritage site in 2008.
President Tong has won a number of awards and recognition that acknowledges his contribution and leadership on climate change and ocean conservation.
Anote Tong | Speaker | TED.com