FORATOM Welcomes the Nuclear for Climate Initiative

FORATOM welcomes the publication of the Nuclear for Climate initiative’s position paper “Nuclear is part of the solution for fighting climate change”. Ahead of the COP21 in Paris, FORATOM Director-General Jean-Pol Poncelet issued his support for the initiative:
“Nuclear energy will be represented at COP21 through a grassroots initiative called “Nuclear for Climate” which brings together more than 140 associations and technical societies. The initiative will demonstrate how nuclear energy, as a low carbon technology, can help lower greenhouse gas emissions and tackle climate change,” Mr Poncelet said.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has acknowledged that nuclear energy offers this advantage. In its 5th Report from April 2014, the IPCC includes nuclear energy among the low carbon energy sources that, should their usage triple or quadruple by 2050, would help limit the concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere.
In the European Union at the moment, nuclear energy contributes 53% of all low carbon electricity produced. It is also the single largest electricity generation technology in the EU, supplying 27% of the Member States’ clean, secure and competitive electricity.
“The evolution of society towards a low carbon world is a very ambitious aspiration – one that requires the careful consideration of all possible solutions and the avoidance of all ideologically or doctrinally driven decisions. What is needed now is to prepare for the post-2020 era and make sure the tools and objectives evolve to address the growing problem,” Mr. Poncelet said. “Nuclear energy can be considered as a low carbon energy source which provides a solution to the challenge of meeting the continuously increasing global demand for electricity whilst fulfilling obligations and objectives under global climate change agreements”
FORATOM also invites all members of the press and other interested individuals to visit the Nuclear for Climate exhibition booth for low carbon energy solutions from 2 to 9 December 2015 at the La Galerie des Solutions de la COP21, Air and Space Museum – Paris le Bourget.

For further information, please consult the Nuclear for Climate webpage and its Position Paper.