It is a large number of countries including the USA, Canada, Japan and a number of European countries that during the ongoing climate conference COP28 are coming out with the message of greatly increasing nuclear power.
– Sweden is now taking concrete steps towards new nuclear power capacity and I am happy to stand side by side with like-minded countries here at COP28, said Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) during a speech on Saturday.
According to the countries, nuclear power will play a key role in reaching the goal of reduced carbon dioxide emissions. The goal is to triple nuclear power capacity by 2025 compared to 2020 levels.
The countries included
Among the countries included in the agreement are Great Britain, Bulgaria, Canada, Finland, France, Hungary, South Korea, Moldova, Morocco, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates.
John Kerry, the US special envoy for climate, says in his speech that the UN climate panel IPCC addresses nuclear power as a way for the world to meet the 1.5 degree target.
– We cannot reach zero net emissions by 2050 without some nuclear power. It’s not politics or ideology – it’s mathematics, he says.
Nuclear power as a renewable energy source also arouses opposition. Jeff Ordrowe, a representative of the environmental movement 350.org says that they appreciate that US President Biden wants to invest in alternatives to fossil fuels but that nuclear power is a “dangerous distraction”, something that the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant highlighted.