Norway Moves to Allow Seabed Mining Exploration 挪威逐步開放海底採礦惹惱環保人士

2024年3月21日星期四

Norway Moves to Allow Seabed Mining Exploration 挪威逐步開放海底採礦惹惱環保人士

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Norway Moves to Allow Seabed Mining Exploration 挪威逐步開放海底採礦惹惱環保人士
Amid Worsening Climate Shocks, FEMA Will Try To Expedite Aid 氣候變遷加劇美國災害管理局嘗試更便捷方法

Norway Moves to Allow Seabed Mining Exploration 挪威逐步開放海底採礦惹惱環保人士
文/Eric Lipton
譯/周辰陽挪威逐步開放海底採礦惹惱環保人士 The Norwegian parliament voted Tuesday to authorize opening parts of the Norwegian Sea to seabed mining exploration, a move that reflects rising international demand for the metals needed to build batteries for electric vehicles worldwide. 挪威國會周二投票決定，授權開放挪威海的部分水域進行海底採礦勘探，此舉反映出全世界對於製造電動車用電池所需的金屬，需求不斷增長。 The decision clears the way for prospectors to look for seabed deposits between Norway and Greenland, mostly north of the Arctic Circle, in areas under Norway's national jurisdiction. 這個決定為探礦者在挪威與格陵蘭之間，大部分位於北極圈以北，挪威國家管轄範圍的區域內尋找海底礦床，鋪平了道路。 Proposals for mining exploration in both international waters and coastal areas like those off Norway have encountered stiff opposition from environmentalists who say that not enough is known about the life at the bottom of sea to authorize mining. 在公海跟挪威外海等沿海區域兩處進行採礦勘探的提案，遇到環保人士的強烈反對，表示人類對於海底生命的認識還不足以授權採礦。 Initially, the work in Norway will involve collecting information about the amount of metals in the seabed and what harm large-scale mining might cause to aquatic life. 一開始，挪威的工作將涉及蒐集有關海底金屬量的資訊，以及大規模採礦可能對水中生物帶來什麼樣危害。 The parliament would have to consider the plan again before industrial-scale seabed mining would be allowed to start. 在批准工業規模（大規模）的海底採礦開始前，挪威國會將再次考慮該計畫。 Norway joins a growing list of nations — including Japan, New Zealand, Namibia and the Cook Islands in the South Pacific — that in recent years have either considered or taken steps toward seabed mining. 愈來愈多國家，包括日本、紐西蘭、納米比亞與南太平洋的庫克群島，已經在最近幾年考慮或採取有助於海底採礦的措施。挪威是最新加入者。 Separately, a United Nations-affiliated agency known as the International Seabed Authority is drafting regulations that could eventually allow seabed mining in international waters in parts of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans. 另外，聯合國轄下機構「國際海底管理局」正在起草規章，最終可能允許在部分太平洋、印度洋與大西洋的國際海域進行海底採礦。 The authority has spent a decade trying to finalize rules for international waters. While that debate continues, nations can decide on their own whether to authorize mining in the coastal areas they control. 海底管理局花了十年，試著讓管理公海採礦的規章定案。辯論仍在持續，但各國可以自行決定，要不要授權在領海的沿海區域採礦。 Some academics, scientists and environmental groups in Norway have challenged the plan. 挪威一些學者、科學家與環團對該計畫提出挑戰。 "The ocean is vitally important for our survival on this planet," said Kaya L��nne Fjærtoft , a marine biologist from Norway with the World Wildlife Foundation. "Risking ocean health is gambling our future." 挪威的「世界自然基金會」海洋生物學家菲亞爾托夫特說，「海洋對我們在這個星球的生存極其重要，讓海洋的健康冒風險，就是在賭我們的未來」。 Environmentalists also say that battery chemistry is rapidly changing, and carmakers soon might not need some of the metals Norway is targeting. 環保人士也說，電池材料正在快速演變，挪威準備開採的金屬，有部分可能汽車製造商很快就用不到。

Amid Worsening Climate Shocks, FEMA Will Try To Expedite Aid 氣候變遷加劇美國災害管理局嘗試更便捷方法
文/Christopher Flavelle
譯/羅方妤氣候變遷加劇美國災害管理局嘗試更便捷方法 The Biden administration is overhauling the country's disaster assistance programs, expanding aid for survivors of hurricanes, wildfires and other catastrophes and making it easier to access. 拜登政府正在徹底改革美國災害援助計畫，將援助拓展至颶風、野火和其他災難的倖存者，並讓援助更容易取得。 The shift, announced Friday by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, comes amid a growing number of climate-related disasters. It follows years of criticism surrounding the agency's aid programs, which experts have said are insufficient, too hard to access and disproportionately benefit wealthier and white Americans. 這項由美國聯邦急難救災總署在周五宣布的轉變，正值氣候相關災害數量攀升之際。多年來該署的援助計畫飽受批評，專家表示援助不足、太難取得，而且不成比例的讓較富裕的美國白人獲益。 "Survivors deserve better," said Deanne Criswell, the FEMA administrator. "We're connecting people with the help that they need on their worst day." 聯邦急難救災總署署長狄恩妮．克里斯維爾表示：「倖存者應得到更好的待遇。我們正提供人們在最糟的日子所需的幫助。」 The changes include wider access to an immediate $750 payment after evacuating a home and for other urgent needs, more housing assistance for people who can't return home right away, easier access to money to repair and improve homes, and reduced paperwork. 這些轉變包括撤離房屋後和其他緊急需求時更容易立即取得750美元給付，提供無法立刻返家的民眾更多住房協助，更容易取得用來修繕和改善房屋的款項，及減少文書工作。 Those changes would especially help renters and people with low incomes, according to Frank Matranga, who runs the agency's aid programs for disaster survivors. And because people in those groups are more likely to be people of color, the changes should reduce the racial inequity in federal disaster aid, he said. 負責該署災害倖存者援助計畫的馬特蘭加表示，這些轉變對租客和低收入者特別有幫助。他說，因為這些類型民眾較可能是有色人種，這些轉變應該會減少聯邦災害援助中的種族不平等。 About 1 million Americans each year receive some sort of direct aid from FEMA, according to the agency. 該署指出，每年約百萬名美國人接受來自該署某種形式上的直接援助。 In addition to the $750 payment per household, FEMA said it would create a new program, called Displacement Assistance, to help people who need to stay in hotels, or with friends or family. Weather-related disasters pushed more than 3.3 million American adults out of their homes in 2022, census data shows. Of those, at least 1.2 million were displaced for a month or longer. 除了發給每戶750美元，該署也表示會創立一項名為「流離失所援助」的新專案，協助必須待在旅館或借住朋友和家人家中的民眾。人口普查數據顯示，天氣相關災害2022年導致超過330萬名美國成人離開家園，其中至少120萬人流離失所一個月以上。 FEMA is also ending one of its most criticized rules, which requires disaster survivors seeking assistance to first apply for, and be rejected for, a loan from the Small Business Administration, regardless of whether they own a small business. 該署也終止一項最受批評的規則，也就是要求尋求援助的災害倖存者先向美國小型企業管理局申請貸款，無論他們是否經營小型企業，被拒絕後才能向該署申請援助。 Han Nguyen, a spokesperson for the Small Business Administration, said in a statement that the agency "applauds FEMA's decision." 美國小型企業管理局發言人阮漢在聲明中表示，他們的機構「贊成聯邦急難救災署的決定」。 FEMA said it would also make it easier for people whose homes had been damaged to get money to rebuild. And if a home requires upgrades for people with disabilities — for example, adding a ramp to the front door — FEMA would pay for those changes. 該署表示，這會使房屋受損的人更容易拿到重建資金。而且如果房屋需要為行動不便人士進行設備升級，例如在房屋門口增設坡道，該署會支付這些改建費用。

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