The growing role of nuclear energy discussed at COP 29

The 29th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, COP 29, held from November 11 to 22 in Baku, Azerbaijan, attracted 196 world leaders and approximately 72,000 participants. Nuclear energy played a minor role in a meeting in which a series of highly controversial issues were discussed.

Even the landmark announcement on day one that COP parties had reached a consensus on standards for creating carbon credits under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement was not without controversy. This was highlighted as an essential step to help direct resources to developing countries. The COP 29 presidency hoped to end a years-long blockage of rules governing carbon markets. While it could accelerate the energy transition by putting cash where it is needed, civil society groups insist that money from carbon markets should not replace the vast sums of climate finance that richer countries say they owe.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev criticized France in the run-up to the conference for its actions in its overseas territories, prompting French Ecology Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher to cancel her participation in the COP 29 talks. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev used his opening speech at COP29 to strongly criticize Western governments for buying his country’s gas while condemning its fossil fuel-dependent economy.

Aliyev also opened COP29 by accusing Western countries of buying Azerbaijani gas, while criticizing the country’s fossil fuel-dependent economy. He criticized Western media, climate activists and opponents of Azerbaijan’s oil and gas industry, calling them hypocritical as the US is the world’s largest oil producer, while Azerbaijan accounts for less than 1% of global oil and gas production. “Any natural resource, whether it’s oil, gas, wind, sun, gold, silver, copper, those are all natural resources. Countries should not be blamed for owning these resources, and should not be blamed for bringing these resources to market,” he said. “As chair of COP 29, we will of course be a strong supporter of a green transition, and that is what we are doing. But at the same time we have to be realistic,” he added.

Asad Rehman of War on Want told Euronews that Aliyev is right when he says that the signals for change must come from the biggest polluters. “Countries that have been polluting for more than a century – such as the United States, the European Union and Great Britain – play a crucial role. What they do is important because it sends a strong message to the rest of the world,” he said.

In another early upset, the Argentine team was ordered to leave Baku by President Javier Milei, who had previously described the climate crisis as a “socialist lie”.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama left behind his “well-prepared speech” in his opening speech. “Since yesterday I was watching the silent TV screens in the leaders’ lounge,” he said. “People eat, drink, meet and take photos together, while images of voiceless speeches by leaders play on and on in the background.” He added: “To me this looks exactly like what happens in the real world. Daily life continues with its old habits and our speeches, full of good words about fighting climate change, not changing anything… My point is: what on earth are we doing, meeting again and again if there is no political will? the horizon to go beyond words and unite for meaningful action?”

On nuclear energy, at an event co-hosted by the COP 29 Presidency, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the US and the World Nuclear Association (WNA), six more countries joined the declaration to ban nuclear energy to triple by 2050. A group of 22 countries signed the declaration in 2023 during COP 28 in Dubai. These include Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ghana, Hungary, Japan, South Korea, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Great Britain and the US.

However, a number of key nuclear countries have not signed, including Russia and China, as well as five in Europe (Armenia, Belarus, Belgium, Switzerland and Spain), two in South Asia (India and Pakistan), three in the Americas (Argentina, Brazil and Mexico), South Africa and Iran. It is notable that the six new signatories are currently non-nuclear states – El Salvador, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Nigeria and Türkiye. – although nuclear power plants are under construction in Türkiye and firmly planned in Kazakhstan.

WNA said the announcement is “the latest moment of recognition for the essential role of nuclear energy in achieving net-zero emissions.” WNA recalled that in March the IAEA and Belgium co-chaired the first Nuclear Energy Summit, where countries highlighted the role of nuclear energy in reducing the use of fossil fuels, increasing energy security and boosting economic development. In September, during New York Climate Week, fourteen of the world’s largest banks and financial institutions from five countries expressed support for tripling global nuclear capacity.

Nuclear energy was also mentioned by a number of countries in their national speeches at COP 29. The US announced plans to deploy 200 GWe of nuclear capacity by 2050 (see related story). Kazakhstan promoted its uranium exports, the Czech Republic promoted nuclear services it could provide to other countries, Poland described nuclear energy as “the future” and Slovakia described its plans for small modular reactors (SMRs) and spent fuel recycling.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni advocated the use of nuclear energy as an alternative to fossil fuels, given the lack of other practical options. “Currently there is no alternative to the supply of fossil fuels. We must have a realistic global vision,” she said.

The IAEA also had a visible presence at COP 29, with Director General Rafael Grossi participating in a number of events. In addition. The IAEA’s Atoms4Climate COP 29 Pavilion opened in the official Blue Zone, offering a program of IAEA and partner events to showcase nuclear science and technology solutions for climate change mitigation, adaptation and monitoring.

The IAEA organizes a series of events in four thematic areas: energy, food, the ocean and water. These are intended to contribute to an informed debate on the tools and benefits that nuclear technology and applications provide for climate change, reducing emissions, building resilience to the impacts of climate change and providing data for decision-making.

On November 13, Grossi took part in an event organized by the COP 29 Presidency on “Financing low-carbon technologies, including nuclear energy”, together with representatives of the COP 29 Presidency, the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Economic Commission for Europe of the United Nations. (UN/ECE), multilateral development banks and the nuclear industry. Discussions focused on the role of governments, multilateral development banks and the private sector in scaling up nuclear energy.

Grossi also co-hosted an event with the US government Accelerating the early deployment of small modular reactors. “SMRs can be game-changers for renewable energy, meeting needs from district heating to AI data centers, while decarbonizing industries such as steel and petrochemicals,” he said. The event focused on ways to accelerate the implementation of SMR projects, which the IAEA estimates will comprise a quarter of new nuclear capacity by 2050.

Speakers from the US government, Google, South Korean steelmaker POSCO and the IAEA discussed infrastructure and regulatory hurdles that must be overcome to enable faster rollout of SMRs. They also highlighted how stakeholders, including end users and suppliers, are dealing with these challenges.

On November 18, the IAEA will organize an event on “Leveraging Science, Technology and Innovation for Climate Solutions”. Featuring advanced nuclear technologies that contribute to resilient crop development, pollution monitoring and disease control, the event will highlight the importance of international cooperation, increasing support for research and development, expanding access to data and mobilizing public-private financing for impactful climate solutions.

On the sidelines of COP 29, the IAEA and LinkedIn have entered into a partnership that will benefit the nuclear workforce, including women in STEM, by supporting capacity building and workforce development. The partnership will provide training and research opportunities, and access to LinkedIn’s extensive global network. The agreement was signed by Grossi and LinkedIn co-founder Allen Blue.

In the run-up to COP 29, Grossi noted: “At last year’s COP 28 in Dubai, countries agreed for the first time that nuclear energy, along with other low-carbon energy sources, must be part of the solution. Now, at COP 29 in Baku, the world must discuss concrete steps to move nuclear energy from consensus to construction. Financing is central to that conversation.”

He added: “Between 2017 and 2023, the world spent around $50 billion on nuclear energy every year. Tripling global nuclear capacity by 2050 would require annual investments of about $150 billion. That sounds like a lot. But to put it into perspective, it is only a tenth of what is needed annually to triple renewable capacity by 2030.”

He noted that technology companies are turning to nuclear energy. “Both cryptocurrencies and AI are booming, and both require a lot of energy. Every year, Bitcoin mining requires twice as much electricity as the whole of Finland. One AI prompt uses the same amount of energy as a light bulb left on for twenty minutes, or about ten times as much energy as a simple internet search.”

He said that AI is not only a burden but also holds a lot of promise. “It is already helping us to limit and adapt to climate change. In Africa, AI projects predict weather patterns and help prevent climate disasters. They reduce methane pollution by improving waste management and AI increases energy efficiency in industry and construction. The digital revolution has the potential to benefit humanity in many other areas as well, including our ability to detect and cure diseases. But like all other revolutions, new and innovative energy solutions are needed. Over the past five COP meetings, nuclear energy has moved from the sidelines to part of the solution. At COP 29 in Baku it is time to move from agreeing on what is needed to finding ways to make it happen.”

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