Nuclear for Climate initiative fuels nuclear and climate change debate
The ongoing global climate talks that are expected to culminate with an agreement at COP21 in Paris, in December 2015, prompted nuclear associations and societies from all over the world to launch an initiative called Nuclear4Climate. Avid readers of ENS NEWS will have seen the article about the campaign that featured in ENS NEWS N° 47. The goal of this campaign is to fuel the debate about how to fight climate change and highlight the essential contribution of nuclear energy to that fight. Nuclear4Climate brings together 60 trade associations and fora from around the world (including ENS, FORATOM, the French Nuclear Society (SFEN) and the American Nuclear Society – ANS to name but a few) that are keen to promote nuclear energy’s game-changing contribution to reducing CO2 emissions.
Contributing to the fight against climate change
Most readers who are active in the nuclear community will already be well aware of the impressive climate change credentials of nuclear energy. At a time when the EU is more than ever determined to achieve its low-carbon economy goals, the role of nuclear - as a non-CO2 emitting energy source - in mitigating the effects of climate change is vital. However, not all readers may be quite so familiar with nuclear energy’s environmentally-friendly profile. By raising awareness of this fact the Nuclear4Climate campaign is spreading the word and bringing the debate about nuclear energy’s contribution to a large, environmentally-conscious and information hungry audience.
But what are the facts? Important studies have consistently demonstrated that nuclear energy must be part of the solution to meet increasing electricity demand while reducing greenhouse gases. For example, nuclear power provides 11% of global electricity production, 27% of Europe's electricity and 53% of its carbon-free electricity. According to the latest World Energy Outlook published by the IEA, it has already avoided the release of around 56 Gt of CO2 since 1971, which is equivalent to two years of emissions at current rates. By 2040, it is foreseen that the release of almost four years of CO2 emissions at current rates will have been avoided.
ICAPP 2015 and other initiatives
During the 2015 International Congress on Advances on Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP), which recently took place in Nice, France, the Nuclear4Climate campaign grabbed the media and social media spotlight by organising the signing of a Joint Declaration by representatives of the main supporting organisations. This event, in which 40 nuclear societies representing more than 50,000 nuclear scientists took part, is part of a series of initiatives carried out by Nuclear4Climate under the aegis of its international campaign.
Among the other events that have already helped raise awareness are the presentation of the initiative by the Nuclear Engineers of Turkey (NMD) association during a session of the Istanbul Nuclear Power Plants Summit (INPPS) that took place in Istanbul on 20 March.
In Tokyo, on 13 April, the Japanese Atomic Industry Forum (JAIF) published a Nuclear4Climate Position Paper on their website (in Japanese), an initiative that truly reflects the international dimension of the campaign. In addition, ANS, the Australian Nuclear Association, the Belgian Nuclear Forum (BNF), JAIF, SFEN, the World Nuclear Association (WNA) and the Swedish Nuclear Society have created their own Nuclear4Cliamte websites.
Take your pictures and support the campaign!
Another initiative is called Take your picture! Since Nuclear4Climate is above a grass roots campaign, professionals working at nuclear installations were invited to take photos of their place of work. So far, over 200 people have supported of the campaign by photographing where they work and what they do. Among the photos are some taken in Paris, Washington DC, Pheonix, Istanbul, Beijing, Thailand, Malaysia, etc. To have a look at some of them m go to:
www.flickr.com/photos/120990791@N02/sets/72157648631228479/.
ENS NEWS would like to urge its readers to join in this photo shooting campaign and add their considerable weight to the power of this visual message. Make sure that your place of work is seen too!
The months leading up to the COP 21 talks are going to be full of initiatives and activities promoting the unique role that nuclear energy has to play on combating the scourge of climate change. Follow the Nuclear4Climate campaign. Watch this space!
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