VOA慢速英语2021--美国考虑保护“气候难民”

US Could Consider Protections for ‘Climate Refugees’

The U.S. government is considering a plan that would offer protections to people coming into the country to flee areas threatened by climate change.

No country offers asylum¹ or other legal protections to people displaced specifically because of the effects of climate change. President Joe Biden's administration is studying such a plan.

Biden issued an executive order in February that instructed his national security advisor², Jake Sullivan, to discuss with federal agencies how such protections could be created. His discussions are expected to center on how the U.S. could identify and resettle people displaced directly or indirectly³ by climate change. A report on the discussions is expected in August.

A recent report by the World Meteorological Organization found that since 2010, about 23 million people a year have been displaced by drought, rising sea levels and other climate caused disasters. The United Nations says there may be as many as 200 million climate-displaced people worldwide by 2050.

The plan to offer protections to people fleeing climate change-related events is supported by Democratic Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts. He plans to reintroduce legislation to address the lack of protections for those who do not fit the narrow definition of "refugees" under international law.

"We have a greater chance now than ever before to get this done," Markey said in a statement to The Associated Press. He said this is because Biden is good at climate diplomacy⁴ and has a great awareness⁵ of the climate problems facing the world.

Political experts say such legislation is likely to face a lot of opposition⁶. One problem would be how to define a climate refugee when natural disasters and violence often both happen in areas people are fleeing, such as Central America.

If the U.S. did define a climate refugee, it could mark a major change in refugee policies worldwide. Supporters of such a plan say it would make sense for the U.S. to lead the way.

"No nation in the world has taken the leadership to address this reality, which we face today," said Krish Vignarajah. She heads the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. "It's not an issue that we can punt to 20, 30 years from now," she told the AP. "Our hope is the U.S. can take strong action that will produce a domino effect on other nations."

A study by university researchers in the U.S. suggests climate change is moving away from a migrant population of mainly men seeking better economic situations to families fleeing hunger.

Researchers at Duke University and the University of Virginia studied migration⁷ out of Central America. The study involved data on about 320,000 Hondurans caught at the U.S.-Mexico border from 2012 to 2019. The information showed that the individuals were largely from violent, agricultural areas that were also experiencing their lowest rainfall in 20 years.

While the study found that climate change is a driving force, there remains⁸ little political will to help climate migrants, said the study's co-writer, David Leblang. He is a professor of politics and policy at the University of Virginia.

"As a political scientist, I would say the chances of this happening right now are close to zero," he said. Some experts say political pressure may lead Biden to drop the idea after the number of people stopped by the Border Patrol last month hit a 20-year high.

The mayors of several U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, New York and San Diego, wrote a letter to President Biden about the issue. It urges Biden to include the mayors in discussions about the plans so they can help come up with the right possible solutions to protect climate migrants.

In New Zealand, a new government in 2017 tried offering humanitarian⁹ visas to Pacific Islanders affected¹⁰ by climate change. The program aimed to let in about 100 people a year. Six months later, the plan was dropped. New Zealand's Climate Change Minister said the government decided¹¹ instead to center on reducing emissions¹³ so people do not become displaced.

Words in This Story

drought – n. a period of extended dryness caused by a lack of rain

punt – v. to decide not to do something

domino effect – n. a situation in which something, usually bad, happens and causes other similar events to happen

emission¹² – n. the act of producing or sending out something (such as energy or gas) from a source

1 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

2 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

3 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

4 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

5 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

6 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

7 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

10 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 emission   

n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发

参考例句：

• Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施，降低污染物排放总量。
• Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后，指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。

13 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。