A group of around 20 countries called for the expansion of nuclear energy at the UN climate conference in Dubai. The US, France, Britain and host country the United Arab Emirates are among those involved in the joint statement published on Saturday. The goal is to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, he said. The focus in Dubai is on the demand for the expansion of renewable energy.
The group of states demanded that the installed capacity of nuclear power plants around the world be tripled by 2050 – compared to the 2020 level. The statement was distributed by US climate representative John Kerry. Signatories also include Belgium, Finland, Japan, Poland, Sweden and Ukraine, but not Russia and China, which also have a large number of nuclear power plants.
Kerry referred to scientific statements that climate neutrality by 2050 is “not achievable” without nuclear energy. The declaration also calls on international financial institutions to promote the expansion of nuclear energy. This is currently partially excluded from its statutes. Critics point to the risks associated with nuclear power, unresolved disposal issues, and high costs.
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The focus of the climate conference is on the expansion of renewable energy. On Friday, a majority of more than 110 countries supported the goal, also supported by Germany, of tripling their production by 2030 while at the same time doubling energy efficiency by that date. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen highlighted this in Dubai.
The EU had already spoken out in favor of these objectives in the spring. “I call on everyone to include these goals in the final declaration of the climate conference,” said von der Leyen. While there is broad support for the expansion of renewable energy in Dubai, positions on the move away from fossil fuels that this should entail are different – as they are on nuclear power.
Germany stopped using nuclear energy to generate power in April. Its share in global electricity production is currently almost ten percent. The peak was 17.5% in 1996.