Don’t nuke the climate – COP21
The climate crisis belongs to the defining issues of our time.
In December 2015, we will join movements for climate action, sustainable energy, and environmental, gender and social justice in Paris. As a Nuclear-Free and Carbon-Free Contingent, we demand immediate action from all of the governments of the world at the COP21 Climate Conference.
Under the expiring Kyoto Protocol, nuclear energy is rightly excluded from the possible solutions available to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Yet the nuclear industry, in collaboration with certain nations, is lobbying for their dangerous and polluting technology to be seen as a climate-friendly option. This would obstruct real progress in protecting the climate.
The solutions to the climate crisis are evident and can be brought to scale through international cooperation and investment now. We must transition to an energy system that no longer depends on antiquated energy models of the 20th century and their polluting nuclear power and fossil fuel technologies, but instead rely on safe, clean, affordable and sustainable renewable energy, energy efficiency, conservation and modern grid technologies of the 21st century.
Nuclear power manifests a wide range of human rights violations, from the rights to life and health, to disproportionate impacts on indigenous peoples, women, children, and future generations. In addition, nuclear power is unacceptable because it is:
- Too dangerous: the use of nuclear power will inevitably lead to more Fukushimas and Chernobyls. The technology and materials needed to generate nuclear energy can be diverted to nuclear weapons programs. These risks remain with any new reactor designs.
- Too dirty: nuclear reactors and the nuclear fuel chain produce vast amounts of lethal radioactive waste, which grow whenever nuclear power is used. The nuclear fuel chain is responsible for far more carbon emissions than renewable energy generation and improved energy efficiency. All reactors routinely emit toxic radiation.
- Too expensive: building new reactors is the costliest means possible of reducing carbon emissions. The world’s existing reactor fleets are aging and becoming economically uncompetitive; and the continued use of nuclear power crowds out investment in clean energy sources.
- Too slow: use of nuclear power to reduce fossil fuel emissions would require an unprecedented nuclear construction program, beyond the capability of the world’s manufacturers within an acceptable time frame. Existing reactors should be phased out consistent with climate action imperatives.
All that is lacking is the political will! In Paris, we will march, demonstrate and rally to break the gridlock and show the world the necessity to leave the unsustainable path of nuclear energy now.
Join us in our marches and actions.
Here you can access our campaign website.