Nuclear for Climate
A grassroots initiative for Climate
Nuclear for Climate is a grassroots initiative gathering over 150 associations with the goal of educating policymakers and the public about the necessity of including nuclear energy among the carbon-free solutions to climate change. It was co-founded by the ENS, the French Nuclear Society (SFEN) and the American Nuclear Society (ANS) in 2015, ahead of the COP21 conference in Paris.
The initiative brings together professionals and scientists of the international nuclear community, coordinated via regional and national nuclear associations and technical societies. The international community recognises the urgent need to decarbonize electricity generation to protect people and the planet from air pollution and climate change.
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Since 2015, over 150 nuclear associations have shared the declaration messages via social media, and the twitter account reached over 300,000 tweet impressions around the world. The award-winning grassroots communications campaign was retweeted by high-profile news publications such as the NY Times, NBC and ABC news.
Nuclear for Climate has a global presence on social media and in-person. There have been delegations at international conferences, such as the United Nations COP 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, and soon, COP 27 where activists promoted nuclear energy as a key player in negotiations around climate change. The delegation also hosted side events, flashmobs and participated in panel discussions with representatives from environmental NGOs, the IAEA and national delegates.
Find out more about the different actions led during the conferences !
COP29 - Baku
At COP29, Nuclear for Climate (N4C) brought together a delegation of 30 members from 17 countries to highlight nuclear energy’s essential role in the energy transition.
The initiative participated in key events, including a roundtable on nuclear-renewable synergies with the IAEA, the Canadian Nuclear Association, and WiRE, as well as discussions on nuclear’s role in industrial applications with the WNA and Amazon.
On the political front, six new countries, including Turkey, Kenya, and Kazakhstan, joined the initiative to triple global nuclear capacity by 2050, bringing the total number of signatories to 31.
Read the Position Paper 2024
COP28 - Dubai
At COP28, nuclear energy was officially recognized as a key solution for achieving carbon neutrality—a first in an international climate agreement.
Nuclear for Climate was once again present to champion this message, with a dynamic stand animated by its volunteers. The association actively contributed to discussions on the role of nuclear energy in the energy transition and passionately advocated for the arguments in favor of nuclear power outlined in its position paper, which we invite you to read.
This recognition marks a major milestone for nuclear energy in international climate discussions. Net Zero Needs Nuclear.
Read the Position Paper 2023
COP27 - Sharm el-Sheikh
Nuclear power had a very high profile at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, which lasted from 6 to 18 November 2022.
Nuclear4Climate was again present, and its volunteers took part in numerous conferences at the institutional stand of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) named “Atoms4Climate”.
The “NGO” stand was animated by about a hundred volunteers from the “young generation” organizations of nuclear companies (SfenJG, ENSYGN, IYNC) and partner NGOs. It gave undeniable visibility to the message supported by the association: Net Zero Needs Nuclear. Indeed, during these two weeks, the volunteers were able to exchange with journalists, officials, and people curious about the role of nuclear energy in the fight against climate change.
The icing on the cake, once again, the volunteers have made a flashmob with Melty, the polar bear, and Bella, the gummy bear.
Read the Position Paper 2022
COP26 – Glasgow
In 2021, for COP26, Nuclear for Climate published its position paper as part of its “Net Zero Needs Nuclear” campaign.
Available in 17 languages thanks to the involvement of international partners, the position paper has been signed by over 100 companies and non-governmental organizations representing at least 80,000 young professionals, engineers, scientists, nuclear experts, environmentalists, and concerned citizens from around the world.
The paper calls on negotiators and policymakers at COP26 to adopt a science-based and technology-neutral approach to energy policy and financing to promote sustainable collaboration between nuclear and renewable energy.
Nuclear for Climate was able to count on the participation and involvement of several associations as the members of the Nuclear Institute’s Young Generation Network, who worked hard to make nuclear visible to the public as well as the participants of the event. They drew attention to COP26, including organizing a 3-meter high inflatable gummy bear and a flash mob dance to their anthem “We Need Net Zero,” inspired by the classic ballad “Holding Out for a Hero” by Bonnie Tyler.
Read the Position paper Watch the Official COP26 We Need Net Zero Nuclear Flash Mob
COP25 - Madrid
In 2019, at the COP25 in Madrid, over 30 delegates, mostly nuclear young professionals from the Spanish Nuclear Society, actively promoted nuclear energy as a key part solution for climate emergency mitigation.
The Nuclear for Climate delegation presented the nuclear contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the official climate negotiators exhibition zone and a live streamed side event with over 60 participants: “No time to lose –why the world needs all low-carbon energy sources to achieve its climate goals”.
Read the article of WNN
COP24 - Katowice
In 2018, at the COP24 in Katowice (Poland), Nuclear for Climate had the opportunity to work alongside its members and partners. They aimed to ensure that discussion about nuclear energy occurred during the climate negotiations, a crucial moment to change the global perception of nuclear power and point out the vital role of nuclear in climate change mitigation.
To achieve this, they explained why the world needs nuclear power by organizing on-site training so that their volunteers could engage more effectively with other participants. They also organized numerous side events so that experts could present the exciting developments in nuclear energy, but they also took part in the round table as guest speakers. Finally, Generation Atomic brought their mascot, an inflatable polar bear, to break the ice and start meaningful conversations about the consequences of excluding nuclear power.
COP23 - Bonn
In november 2017, the initiative Nuclear4Climate was present at COP23 last November in Bonn Germany. Representatives from many national nuclear society and other professional nuclear organizations hosted a Nuclear4Climate booth along with participating in other activities at COP23.
Generation Atomic also had a strong presence at COP23. They held a “Banana Action” where they bought hundreds of bananas and stuck a sticker on each that said “your breakfast provided by #nuclearforclimate” and handed them out at the Sustainable Innovation Forum.
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COP22 - Marrakech
In 2016, on the occasion of the COP22, Nuclear for Climate wanted to promote an energy system powered exclusively by low-carbon energy.
Usually absent from environmental conferences, nuclear energy has found its place in the climate change debate, thanks to Nuclear for Climate. In Marrakech, its members met with foreign delegations and have been able to create a constructive dialogue between the actors of low-carbon solutions: wind, hydro, biomass, CCS2, solar…
Watch IEA's 2°C Scenario (2016)
COP21 - Paris
On the occasion of COP 21, the members of Nuclear for Climate published a study that supports the conclusions of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) that human activities and greenhouse gas emissions are “95% certain” to be responsible for climate change.
These conclusions result from the collective work of experts from 40 countries who analyzed and weighed up to 9,200 scientific publications according to the “peer review” principle.
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