Around twenty countries are calling for tripling nuclear energy capacities in the world by 2050. This Saturday, 110 countries should also commit to tripling renewable energy capacities by 2030.
On the 3rd day of the climate conference in Dubai, no tangible progress is expected to remove fossil fuels from the energy mix.
Behind the smiles in the family photo of the planet’s leaders, disagreements over oil remain deep: after dozens of speeches from world leaders at the COP28 podium on Friday, the success of a major agreement to break climate paralysis seems far from certain.
One after the other, presidents and monarchs took note of the extreme climate conquering the Earth and collective apathy in the face of global warming.
But most have simply repeated their existing climate commitments, almost of which none is in line with the Paris agreement, without opponents of an exit from fossil fuels announcing an about-face.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, recalling that India represented “17% of the planet’s population” for “4% of global emissions”thus launched into an advocacy of the efforts of his country of 1.4 billion inhabitants, a “model for the world” in the balance found “between ecology and economy.
India aims for carbon neutrality by 207020 years after most rich countries, also called upon by experts to spend more to replace hydrocarbons with clean electricity and bring this date forward further.
Emmanuel Macron urged the rich G7 countries to set an example and stop burning coal by 2030recalling that France would close its last coal-fired power plants, kept in operation with the energy crisis, before 2027.
“The Earth is fed up with climate agreements that are not respected”thundered Brazilian President Lula, who will host COP30 in two years.
The combustion of coal, oil and gas since the 19th century takes us towards a unsustainable warming of nearly 3°C by 2100. All the CO2 generated is by far the main source of warming, but a COP has never called for an end to it, as this implies economic and social changes.
As a warning to negotiators for the next two weeks, Polish President Andrzej Duda said from the podium: “Exiting fossil fuels too quickly creates too heavy a burden for society.”
Non-binding agreement on renewable energy
Alongside leaders’ speeches, Emirati hosts catalyzed big announcements non-binding commitments of countries, to give a positive impetus to the official negotiations, under the aegis of the UN.
The most anticipated will be for Saturday, with the commitment of more than 110 countries to triple renewable energy capacities by 2030a global goal that now appears within reach, given the crazy growth in solar power in recent years.
The atmosphere at COP28 is relatively positive at the end of the second day. The Emirati presidency succeeded in having adopted on Thursday the realization of a climate loss and damage compensation fund in vulnerable countries, demanded for decades.
THE first contributions are not enough with around 700 million dollars, but show goodwill, essential to ease tensions between North and South, and move forward on fossils.
A solution: nuclear power?
Around twenty countries including the United States, France and the United Arab Emirates called on Saturday, in a joint declaration at COP28, to triple nuclear energy capacities in the world by 2050, compared to 2020 , to reduce dependence on coal and gas, the major challenge of this COP.
China and Russia, major builders of nuclear power plants in the world today, are not among the signatories.
These include Bulgaria, Canada, Finland, Ghana, Hungary, Japan, South Korea, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, Czech Republic and the United Kingdom.
“The declaration recognizes the key role of nuclear energy in achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and keeping the goal of (limiting warming to) 1.5°C within reach.”indicates the text.
“We know from science, the reality of the facts and the evidence that we cannot achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 without nuclear power,” John Kerry said during the event in Dubai.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis explained that nuclear power represented for his country “a stable source of energy contributing to energy security and decarbonization”.
The signatory countries also call on shareholders of international financial institutions – such as the World Bank – to include nuclear power in their financing.
“There are statutory provisions, sometimes in certain international credit institutions, which exclude nuclear power. I think that is completely obsolete”the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, had declared to AFP a little earlier.
Its promoters see nuclear energy, which is modular and emits almost no greenhouse gases, as an incomparable means of producing virtuous and abundant electricity.
Some environmental defenders, on the other hand, underline the risks of accidents, the question of waste in the very long term or even the high costs of nuclear power.
By the end of the conference scheduled for December 12, more than 170 leaders are expected at COP28.