From Sheriffah Noor Khamseah Al-Idid Syed Ahmad Idid
World leaders are gathering in the UAE from Nov 30 to Dec 12 on a common and urgent mission to prevent climate change from turning into a major crisis.
The hosting of COP28 by the UAE comes at a crucial moment after the nation was, in November, granted the operating licence for its fourth and final nuclear reactor at its Barakah nuclear power plant.
UAE’s permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Hamad Al Kaabi, said the country’s nuclear programme will play a key role in providing 25% of clean energy, supporting its efforts to achieve its 2050 Net Zero Goals.
Meanwhile, COP28 president Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber has drawn attention to the urgent need to mobilise trillions, not billions, of dollars if the world is to reach our climate, biodiversity and SDG targets
It is within this context that he had a meeting on Nov 2 with the presidents of nine of the world’s biggest development banks, including the World Bank, and the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and called on the multilateral development banks (MDBs) to show “more ambition” and work faster to address climate finance and development challenges.
One way MDBs can show more ambition is by including nuclear energy in their financing portfolio under environment, social and governance (ESG) initiatives.
Or better yet, take into consideration the strategic and significant contribution nuclear for development, in particular, for developing economies.
But why go nuclear?
Presently, more than 400 nuclear power reactors operating in more than 30 countries supply over 10% of the world’s electricity, and more than a quarter of all low-carbon electricity.
In essence, without nuclear power, global CO2 emissions would be considerably higher.
The IAEA states that nuclear power has avoided around 70 Gt CO2 in the last five decades.
It also avoids more than one Gt CO2 every year in the current decade and is still, globally, the second source of low carbon power behind hydropower.
Avoided CO2 emissions by nuclear power are the quantity of CO2 emissions that have not been emitted to the atmosphere as a result of the implementation of nuclear power. This reduction in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is critical because CO2 causes climate change by trapping heat, and they also contribute to respiratory disease from smog and air pollution.
Nuclear energy will also help in achieving net zero goals, and a number of countries, including the US and South Korea, have included nuclear energy in their taxonomy. Malaysia is targeting to become a carbon-neutral nation by 2050.
At COP27 in Egypt in 2022, Dr Fatih Barol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), had dovetailed that installed nuclear capacity needs to be doubled by 2050 if net zero goals are to be achieved. He highlighted that, to live up to its potential, the nuclear industry must do better to deliver its projects on time and on budget.
However, arising from the recent geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine, many countries are reassessing and enhancing their energy security. Thus, the World Nuclear Association (WNA), in partnership with Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) with support from the IAEA, had launched Net Zero Nuclear calling for collaboration between all stakeholders to triple nuclear installed capacity
With the expected increased role of nuclear power to achieve net zero goals as well as for energy security and consequently larger funding needed for nuclear power, a new International Bank for Nuclear Infrastructure (IBNI), which offers funds to support nuclear power, will be another of key highlights relating to nuclear power at COP28.
Sheriffah Noor Khamseah Al-Idid Syed Ahmad Idid is an innovation and nuclear advocate.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.