At a time when an increasing number of citizens are pressing for immediate climate action, every form of energy that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions needs to be considered. Only the right mix of energy sources will enable the world to reach the targets set out in the Paris Agreement to limit climate change. This is what high level speakers said during the opening of the International Conference on Climate Change and the Role of Nuclear Power.
China's initiatives to address climate change with nuclear power, including through the development of innovative reactor technologies, were the focus of an event held on the sidelines of the International Conference on Climate Change and the Role of Nuclear Power. China is at the forefront of nuclear power expansion, leading the way in installed capacity as well as number of reactors under construction.
Nuclear energy is an integral part of the world's clean energy future and will require committed and highly skilled young professionals to reach its full potential. That was a key message heard at an event held on the margins of the International Conference on Climate Change and the Role of Nuclear Power in Vienna from 7 to 11 October.
To encourage innovative approaches in communicating about nuclear power's role in combatting climate change, the IAEA recently organized a Data Visualization Challenge in which contestants were called on to present large amounts of relevant data in a simple and attractive way.
"The main message of the conference is this: To meet the climate goals which the nations of the world have agreed on, we need to be much more ambitious," IAEA Acting Director General Cornel Feruta said in his closing remarks to the conference.
Nuclear power has a major role to play in decarbonizing the energy sector to achieve global climate goals but will need enabling policies including a fair allocation of system costs to reach its full potential, the President of the International Conference on Climate Change and the Role of Nuclear Power said in his concluding summary released today.
