COP28 Draft Deal Raises Nuclear Energy as a Climate Solution

In the latest draft of the Global Balance presented by the Climate Summit Presidency (COP28), nuclear energy is included as one of the options for the planet's decarbonization.

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Greenpeace, Ecologists in Action, and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) denounced that the inclusion of this option is a response to the growing presence of nuclear "lobbyists" at climate summits since the COP26 in Glasgow, with the complicity of major atomic powers such as the United States or France.

The presence of pro-nuclear advocates has been "even more noticeable in Dubai," and it appears that their "management has been successful," said WWF's Global Climate and Energy Director, Manuel Vidal-Pulgar, who believes that the COP28's central goal should be to accelerate the ecological transition with a "clear reference to phasing out fossil fuels."

In his opinion, nuclear energy is not a viable option for this transition. Apart from the fact that only 32 countries have atomic plants, nuclear energy generates hazardous waste and poses serious security issues, as demonstrated by past accidents.

"In COP28, there has been talk from the outset about the need for low-emission technologies to justify the use of technologies that are not yet proven, are expensive, or are not ready (such as nuclear fusion), and that is unacceptable," he lamented.

"Clearly, this is a tremendous mistake," said the Ecologists in Action's Energy and Climate Director, Javier Andaluz, who pointed out that the climate impact of a nuclear power plant throughout its life cycle is between 6 and 15 times greater than the impact related to its operation.

"This is a clear concession to the lobbying of large companies - nuclear power is in the hands of electric companies," according to Andaluz, who criticized the high presence of accredited pro-nuclear advocates in Dubai, to whom "recognition similar to that of neutral observer organizations" is being given.

"Nuclear power is not a solution to climate change because it is slow, taking more than 10 years to build a plant - plus all the licensing and preliminary studies; it is expensive and relies on public funds, and there is no private insurance to cover the plants due to their hazardous nature," said the Climate Change Director of Greenpeace Spain, Pedro Zorrilla.

Any accident at a nuclear plant has "very serious consequences for health and the environment," according to Zorrilla, who added that these plants are not suitable to support the deployment needed in renewables as they cannot provide backup for wind or solar variability - turning on or off a nuclear plant takes several days or even weeks.