澳大利亞游說亞投行將煤炭列入投資重點(diǎn)

The Australian government is lobbying hard for the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to include coal among its lending priorities, as the country seeks to defend its lucrative exports.

澳大利亞政府正大力游說中國(guó)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)下的亞洲基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施投資銀行(AIIB)把煤炭項(xiàng)目列入優(yōu)先貸款清單，該國(guó)尋求保護(hù)自己利潤(rùn)豐厚的出口。

The AIIB, billed by some as Beijing’s answer to the World Bank, launched last year with a promise to be a “green bank” with an emphasis on renewable power. But with a draft energy strategy due to be published this month, it has not ruled out funding coal projects.

被一些人視為中國(guó)對(duì)世界銀行(World Bank)發(fā)起挑戰(zhàn)的亞投行，在去年成立時(shí)曾承諾做一家“綠色銀行”，重點(diǎn)投資于可再生能源。但是，本月將發(fā)布能源戰(zhàn)略草案的亞投行，目前尚未排除資助煤炭項(xiàng)目的可能性。

With 57 members including Germany, France and the UK joining the lender despite initial warnings from the US not to do so, the AIIB marks China’s most ambitious foray into financial diplomacy yet. Its capital is about half that of the US-led World Bank.

由于擁有包括德國(guó)、法國(guó)和英國(guó)——它們沒有理會(huì)當(dāng)初美國(guó)發(fā)出的不要加入的警告——在內(nèi)的57個(gè)成員國(guó)，亞投行成為迄今中國(guó)在金融外交領(lǐng)域最雄心勃勃的嘗試。亞投行的資本約為美國(guó)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)下的世界銀行的一半。

Indonesian officials have asked the AIIB to finance coal-fired power plants in the archipelago, and other Asian nations are said to be interested. But Australia, with huge natural gas and coal exports, is primarily concerned with preserving overseas markets.

印尼官員已請(qǐng)求亞投行資助該國(guó)的燃煤電廠，亞洲其他國(guó)家據(jù)稱也有此興趣。但天然氣和煤炭出口量巨大的澳大利亞，主要關(guān)心的是保住海外市場(chǎng)。

“The [Australian] government wants the AIIB energy strategy to acknowledge that fossil fuels will play a significant role in energy generation in the region for decades to come,” said Kate Williams, a Treasury spokeswoman, adding that their inclusion would ensure that “Australia is not disadvantaged competitively”.

“(澳大利亞)政府希望亞投行能源戰(zhàn)略承認(rèn)，化石燃料將在未來幾十年亞洲地區(qū)的能源生產(chǎn)中發(fā)揮重要作用，”澳大利亞財(cái)政部發(fā)言人凱特•威廉姆斯(Kate Williams)說。他接著說，化石燃料納入亞投行能源戰(zhàn)略將確保“澳大利亞不會(huì)在競(jìng)爭(zhēng)中處于劣勢(shì)”。

The bank’s draft energy plan, to be finalised early next year, will determine which projects it supports in Asia. The region needs $8.74tn of investment in energy between 2016 and 2025, according to AIIB forecasts.

計(jì)劃于明年初敲定下來的亞投行能源戰(zhàn)略草案，將決定在亞洲支持哪些項(xiàng)目。亞投行預(yù)測(cè)，2016年至2025年亞洲需要的能源投資將達(dá)8.74萬億美元。

An issue paper published by the bank in October prioritises the upgrading of existing energy projects to raise efficiency and proposes investing in renewable energy, including less-intrusive types of hydropower dam, and advises against any nuclear investment. But it does not exclude the possibility of new coal projects.

亞投行10月發(fā)布的一份問題紀(jì)要，提出優(yōu)先升級(jí)現(xiàn)有能源項(xiàng)目以提高能效，提議投資于可再生能源(包括環(huán)境干擾較少的水電大壩)，并反對(duì)投資核電項(xiàng)目。但是，該文件沒有排除投資新的煤炭項(xiàng)目的可能性。

The paper noted that fossil fuel production has had “severe negative impacts” on the environment, especially in Asia’s densely populated cities. “Coal and oil-fired power plants would exceptionally be considered if cleaner technologies are not available for well-founded energy security or affordability reasons,” it said.

該文件指出，化石能源生產(chǎn)已對(duì)環(huán)境產(chǎn)生了“嚴(yán)重的負(fù)面影響”，尤其是在亞洲人口稠密的城市里。“如果更清潔能源因理由充分的能源安全考慮而不可行，或者價(jià)格難以承受，才將破例考慮使用煤炭和石油發(fā)電的電廠，”該文件稱。

That has worried Australia’s powerful coal lobbies. The Minerals Council of Australia, the country’s biggest industry lobby, accuses the paper of ignoring clean coal technologies, while the Business Council of Australia has written to the AIIB that Australia’s higher-quality coal can help curb emissions growth in Asia.

這讓澳大利亞強(qiáng)大的煤炭游說團(tuán)體感到擔(dān)心。該國(guó)最大行業(yè)游說團(tuán)體澳大利亞礦業(yè)協(xié)會(huì)(Minerals Council of Australia)譴責(zé)該文件忽略了清潔煤炭技術(shù)，而澳大利亞商業(yè)理事會(huì) (Business Council of Australia)已寫信給亞投行稱，澳大利亞更高質(zhì)量的煤炭可以幫助抑制亞洲的排放增長(zhǎng)。

When asked this week about Canberra’s lobbying of the AIIB, Julie Bishop, minister for foreign affairs, said Australia had to be realistic and pragmatic as there was a place for coal in the world’s energy requirements for decades to come.

當(dāng)在本周被問及堪培拉方面對(duì)亞投行的游說時(shí)，澳大利亞外長(zhǎng)畢曉普(Julie Bishop)表示，該國(guó)必須持現(xiàn)實(shí)與實(shí)用的立場(chǎng)，因?yàn)樵谖磥韼资隄M足世界能源需求方面，煤炭是有一席之地的。

“It will be essential for some countries to be able to reach an acceptable level of development to have supplies of cheap reliable energy and given the number of people around the world who still do not have access to electricity this is a fundamental human right,” she said.

“對(duì)于一些國(guó)家而言，有能力達(dá)到一種可接受的發(fā)展水平、獲得廉價(jià)可靠能源的供應(yīng)，將是非常重要的;鑒于世界上至今尚未用上電的人口還非常多，這是一種基本的人權(quán)，”她說。