Message from Ms. Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, on the Occasion of World Oceans Day
教科文組織總幹事奧德蕾·阿祖萊世界海洋日致辭
Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean
「為可持續的海洋而創新」
8 June 2020
2020年6月8日
Every year, in late May and early June, UNESCO celebrates three major international days which are an important opportunity to consider together the three systemic pillars of climate change: biodiversity, the environment and the oceans.
每年5月底至6月初，教科文組織都會慶祝三個重要的國際日，藉以共同思考氣候變化的三大系統性支柱問題：生物多樣性、環境和海洋。
This third day draws attention to a key issue: the oceans. They occupy most of the Earth’s surface – 70% – to the point of giving our planet its unmistakable colour. As such, they are eloquent barometers of the state of the Earth’s health: to observe them is to know where we stand.
其中這第三個國際日旨在讓人們關注一個重大主題：海洋。地球表面絕大部分（70%）被海洋覆蓋，因此海洋賦予我們星球的，首先就是其可以辨識的顏色。海洋也是能夠真實反映地球健康狀況的晴雨表：觀察海洋，就是在了解人類自身置身何方。
In terms of climate, the warming and acidification of the oceans have harmful consequences on marine life and on land: there is of course the rise in water levels which threatens communities settled along the coasts and island States. There is also a risk that is even more worrying since it is systemic, and which will become a reality if the oceans are no longer able to perform the climate regulation function that they have long fulfilled.
從氣候方面看，海洋升溫和酸化對海洋生物和陸地都有負面影響。首先，水位上升會威脅到沿海和島嶼國家的居民。另外，一旦海洋不再能夠履行一直以來的氣候調節功能，我們就會面臨著更令人擔心的系統性風險。
As far as biodiversity is concerned, the diagnosis is even more alarming. Where life has taken root, where it has diversified and branched out, as well as where it remains largely unknown, it is, everywhere, profoundly threatened.
生物多樣性的現狀也同樣令人憂慮。生物多樣性是生命的根基，是生命如此豐富多彩的源泉所在，在許多方面尚有待我們探索，然而目前它正受到嚴重的威脅。
We are well aware of these interlocking and interacting crises, thanks in particular to the work of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. We also know where we must act. However, we still have to take stock of matters and mobilize widely in order to manage the inevitable and prevent the irremediable.
主要得益於今年迎來成立60周年慶典的教科文組織政府間海洋學委員會（海委會）的工作，我們對這些相互交織、互相作用的危機有了深入的認識。同時，我們也清楚了未來行動的方向。但我們還應加深了解，開展廣泛協作，對不可避免的危機加以控制，對無可挽回的危機加以避免。
COVID-19 affords us this opportunity to come together and set up ambitious programmes of action. This is true for the climate; it is true for biodiversity; it is also true for the oceans, as the United Nations Special Envoy for the Ocean, Peter Thomson, explained a few days ago: 「If there were ever a tide in human affairs that should be taken, this is it.」
2019冠狀病毒病為我們提供了這樣一個協力同心，設立宏大行動計劃的契機。在氣候問題上如此，在生物多樣性和海洋問題上同樣如此。正如聯合國海洋事務特使彼得·湯姆森幾天前所說，「如果說人類事務中有我們應該抓住的關鍵節點，那麼現在就是這樣一個重要時刻。」
As we enter the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, it is indeed our responsibility to seize this moment.
聯合國「海洋科學促進可持續發展十年」計劃即將啟動，我們應牢牢把握這一時機。
We must seize this moment, firstly, to learn more about these depths, which often remain largely unknown to us, and still hold many secrets that only we can reveal.
首先，我們應把握時機加深對海洋的認識。海底世界對人類來說仍是一片未知的領域，其中蘊藏著無限奧秘，等待我們去發現和探索。
We must seize this moment, secondly, to give free rein to imagination and innovation, which we need in order to confront this worrying situation. This is why we have made innovation the theme of the celebrations of this international day.
其次，我們應把握時機充分發揮想像力和創新能力。在此艱難時刻，想像力和創新必不可少。也正因如此，我們將今年世界海洋日的主題定為「為可持續的海洋而創新」。
We must also seize this moment to sound the alarm, perhaps more widely than we have done so far, because no technical solution can replace a widespread, personal understanding of the threats to the oceans, their mysteries and their beauty.
最後，我們也應把握時機在更廣的範圍發出警示。因為我們的海洋正遭到破壞，水下世界的奧秘和壯美的景觀受到威脅。在海洋保護方面，任何技術性解決方案都無法替代個人和公眾認識的提高。
「I need the sea because it teaches me」, wrote the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, to whom the Pacific Ocean was so dear. On this World Oceans Day, I invite you to make the ocean your teacher, to learn from it and to act for it.
鍾愛太平洋的智利詩人巴勃羅·聶魯達曾寫道：「我需要大海，因為我以她為師。」值此世界海洋日之際，我誠邀您以海為師，向大海學習，為保護海洋行動起來！