22 countries, including the United States, France and the United Arab Emirates, called on Saturday, December 2, in a joint statement at the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to triple global nuclear energy capacity in 2050 compared to 2020. Their goal Reducing dependence on coal and gas is the biggest challenge of this COP.
The announcement was made by John Kerry, the US climate envoy, in Dubai along with several world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. Signatories also include Bulgaria, Canada, Finland, Ghana, Hungary, Japan, South Korea, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom .
On the other hand, China and Russia, the world’s largest builders of nuclear power plants, are not among the signatories.
“The declaration recognizes the key role of nuclear energy in achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and maintaining the goal [limiter le réchauffement à] 1.5°C within reach,” the text says. “We know from science, reality and evidence that we cannot achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 without nuclear power,” John Kerry said during the event in Dubai.
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A call to international financial institutions
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis stated that for his country, nuclear energy is “a stable energy source that contributes to energy security and decarbonization.”
The signatory states also call on shareholders of international financial institutions such as the World Bank to include nuclear energy in their financing.
“There are legal provisions, some in certain international credit institutions, that exclude nuclear energy. I think this is completely outdated,” International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi previously told Agence France-Presse.
Proponents see nuclear energy, which is modular and emits almost no greenhouse gases, as an unparalleled means of generating valuable and abundant electricity. Some environmentalists, however, emphasize the risks of accidents, the issue of long-term waste or even the high costs of nuclear energy.
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