当生物多样性保护遇到科技“大招”,会有怎样的火花?

发布于 2021-10-13 22:15

编者按：在《生物多样性公约》第十五次缔约方大会期间，CGTN旗舰时事评论栏目《对话》携手全球创新与可持续发展大会(G-STIC)，共同推出特别节目“科技助力可持续发展与生物多样性保护”。世界知名科学家与商业领袖齐聚一堂，分享真知灼见。G-STIC是国际合作交流盛会，通过整合技术，致力于实现可持续发展目标。在欧盟委员会和联合国的支持下，G-STIC由八家世界顶尖技术研究机构联合主办。

Editor's Note: CGTN's current affairs show "Dialogue" collaborated with Global Sustainable Technology and Innovation Community (G-STIC) to produce a special program "Technologies for SDGs" during the COP15 summit in Kunming, China. It invites renowned scientists and business leaders to share their insights on how technology can help us achieve the SDGs. The G-STIC conference is a leading conference on integrated technological solutions aimed at achieving SDGs. With support from the European Commission and the UN, the conference is hosted by eight world-class technological research institutions.

2015年，联合国通过了17项可持续发展目标，旨在2030年前消除全球贫困，保护地球，以期实现2030年之前所有人共享更美好和更可持续未来的蓝图。现在距离2030年还有9年时间，在新冠肺炎肆虐的情况下，有些人担心世界各国可能已远远落后。

In 2015, the United Nations adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity. However, with nine years left to reach the SDGs, some are worrying the world might be far behind, especially with the disruption brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

并未偏离正轨，然而进度堪忧

On the right track, but not the right speed

比利时弗拉芒技术研究院院长德克·弗兰萨认为，世界正处在实现可持续发展目标的正确轨道上，但进展速度过于缓慢。“在全球范围内，跨国公司的确在很严肃地对待可持续发展问题。从这个角度看，我们依然走在正确的道路上。但很显然，就我们现在的推进速度而言，很难在 2030 年实现这些目标。”

Speaking during the show, Dirk Fransaer, managing director at the Flemish Institute for Technological Research, cautioned that the world is on the right track to reaching the goals, but not at the right speed. "Worldwide, you see that multinational companies really take SDGs too hard. So from that point of view, we are on the right track, but clearly, the speed to achieve that by 2030, I don't think we will make it," he said.

Dr. Rachel Chikwamba, group executive of the Council for Industrial and Scientific Research of South Africa. 蕾切尔·奇克万巴，南非科学与工业研究委员会执行董事

南非科学与工业研究委员会执行董事蕾切尔·奇克万巴博士赞成弗兰萨的观点，她呼吁世界各国加速进程的推进。“约10亿成人和儿童仍然不识字，在教育领域，5700万左右的小学适龄人口中，有一半仍未接受教育。”

Dr. Rachel Chikwamba, group executive of the Council for Industrial and Scientific Research of South Africa, agreed with Fransaer, calling for the world to accelerate its progress. "We have about 1 billion people, adults and children, [who are] still not literate. Looking at education, half of the about 57 million people of primary school age are still not being educated," she said, urging the world to speed up.

投资生物多样性

Investing in biodiversity

生物多样性和生态系统保护在许多可持续发展目标中占有重要地位。联合国贸发会议的统计数据指出，为实现可持续发展目标，从2015年到2030年，全世界每年需要投入5至7万亿美元的资金。但新冠肺炎危机使原本就低于历史平均水平的投资额进一步下降。

Biodiversity and ecosystems feature prominently across many of the SDGs. According to the UN Conference on Trade and Development, to meet the SDGs, the world needs financing of $5-7 trillion each year from 2015 to 2030. But the COVID-19 crisis has derailed investment, which was already below the historical average.

2021年10月12日，昆明，《生物多样性公约》第十五次缔约方大会举行高级别会议

周二，中国国家主席习近平在云南省昆明市举行的联合国生物多样性大会 (COP15) 领导人峰会上发表视频讲话，宣布中国将率先出资15亿元人民币（约2.32亿美元），成立昆明生物多样性基金，支持发展中国家生物多样性保护事业。

In a video address to COP15, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday pledged 1.5 billion yuan (about $232 million) to establish a Kunming Biodiversity Fund to support biodiversity protection in developing countries.

除国家层面的努力外，许多人认为企业也需要做出更多的贡献。

Apart from the national level endeavor, many believe the commitment should also come from the corporate level.

汉能投资集团董事长陈宏认为，开展负责任的投资是企业参与的重要一环。以汉能为例，他说，“我们在努力通过投资来帮助企业家创办伟大的企业，利用伟大的技术来促进可持续发展目标的实现。例如，我们投资于农业、自动化和自动驾驶相关的企业，这样相关技术可以部署到农村地区，帮助农民提高生产力。”

Chen Hong, chairman of investment management firm Hina Group, pointed out that responsible investment is the key. "We're trying to use our money to help entrepreneurs create great companies and utilize great technologies to enhance the achievement of sustainable development goals. For instance, we invested into agriculture, automation and auto driving companies. Actually, that can be deployed into the countryside and help the farmers to improve the productivity," said Chen.

关于如何激励企业将可持续发展目标纳入企业运营过程，弗兰萨主张发展“整合技术”。

As for the incentives for businesses to take the SDGs into their operations, Fransaer advocated the use of integrated technologies.

“整合技术旨在同时解决多个可持续发展问题。这种想法可能听起来难以奏效。你可能认为‘解决两三个可持续发展问题所需的成本会是解决一个问题的两三倍’，非也，事实并非如此。相反，通过同时审视并解决若干问题，你会发现某个问题的解决方案，或者废弃方案，也许正可以解决另一个问题。这么一来，你会得到一个非常牢固的商业逻辑，它往往能够非常快地为人们所接受，”弗兰萨说。

"(It means) trying to tackle multiple SDGs at the same time. It seems to be counterproductive. If you would say, 'If we tackle one SDG, it's going to cost us money. If we take two or three, it's going to cost us two or three times.' No, it's not the case. On the contrary, by trying to look at several problems simultaneously and trying to tackle that, the solution of one, or the waste of one, can be a solution for the second one. In that case, you get a very healthy business case, and a very healthy business case means it is being taken up very, very fast," he said.

“大数据”发挥大作用

Big data can be of great help

世界工程组织联合会主席龚克强调大数据、算法、人工智能等技术在生物多样性保护方面的应用。

Gong Ke, president of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations, introduced the use of big data, computing power and artificial intelligence in biodiversity protection.

龚克指出：“人们可以使用技术来追踪野生物种，不断监测森林土地面临的环境影响及其他状况。他们还可以使用数据进行分析统计，甚至帮助创建解决方案，以确保野生动物和物种得到保护。”

"People can use technologies to trace the wild species and constantly monitor the environmental impact of the land in the forest and everything else. They can also use the data to process and count and even help create solutions to make sure the wildlife and species are protected," said Gong.

可持续发展大数据国际研究中心主任郭华东教授一直在领导地球大数据项目，将科学技术与生物多样性和生态系统研究联系起来。他表示，利用大数据可以绘制生物多样性地图，识别生物多样性热点地区，然后弄清楚哪些物种应该受到保护，以及如何保护它们。

Professor Guo Huadong, director-general of the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals, has been heading a project on big Earth data to bridge science and technology with research into biodiversity and ecosystems. He said he and his team members have been using big data to map biodiversity to find where the diversity hotspots are and then figure out what species should be protected and how to protect them.

“我们提出了一个新的框架，将生态位模型和人工智能模型结合起来进行物种识别。我们还开发了基于人工智能的手机APP，在中国得到了广泛的应用，为社会做出了巨大的贡献。此外，我们发展了三种条件下生物多样性保护和可持续利用的标准和程序，并在此基础上，提出了优化生物多样性保护和管理的针对性建议。我认为，这些努力将极大地促进生物多样性科学的发展，为我国履行生物多样性公约义务提供基础信息。”

"We propose a new framework to combine ecological niche model and AI-based model for species identification. And we developed AI-based mobile APPs, which have been widely used in China and contribute greatly to the community. Furthermore, we developed the criteria and the classification scheme for three conditions of the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. Based on the founding, a proposal was made to especially optimize conservation and management of biodiversity. I can say these services will contribute greatly to the advancement of biodiversity science, providing fundamental information for fulfilling the national obligations of implementing the common convention of biological diversity," said Guo.

可持续发展道路上，“一个都能不少”

Leaving no one behind

另一个紧迫的任务是缩小国家间的技术鸿沟，确保前沿技术能够惠及包括最弱势群体在内的大多数人。不过，让发达国家向发展中国家转让技术的确具有一定挑战，正如一些政客所声称的那样，企业可能会面临利润和“国家利益”方面的压力。

Another urgent task is to narrow down the tech divide among countries and ensure that the benefits of frontier technologies reach a majority of people, including the most vulnerable. But it is challenging for technology transfer from the developed world to the developing world, as businesses could be facing the pressure between enterprise profits and "national interests," as claimed by some politicians.

百威英博创新中心全球副总裁大卫·德舒特认为，大企业可以投资研发，同时也可以与世界各地的小企业分享成果。他说：“我们认同制定知识产权相关法规的必要性，确保公司的投资回报。但是，当我们谈论全球性问题的解决之道，处理方式就不能完全相同了。”

David De Schutter, global vice president of the Innovation Center of AB InBev, said big enterprises can invest in research and development, and share benefits with smaller companies worldwide. "We agree that there needs to be some kind of IP regulations to ensure that the company gets some return on investment. But if we're really talking about global problems to solve, then we should treat it differently," he said.

“我们必须与所有利益相关方密切合作，为实现可持续发展目标承担更大的责任。我们必须发挥科技的巨大潜力，秉承‘更快、更高、更强——更团结’的奥运精神，共同实现2030年可持续发展目标。对此，我们信心满满。”龚克说。

"We have to closely work with all stakeholders to shoulder greater responsibility to achieve the SDGs, and to harness the great potential of technology to implement the 2030 sustainable development goals with the Olympic spirit: faster, higher, stronger, and together. We're uplifting," said Gong.