UN environment programme bans nuclear energy from forum

Kirsty Gogan, co-founder and Global Director of Energy for Humanity provided her observations to Forbes on the UNEP’s decision to exclude nuclear energy’s global trade group.

“UNEP have exposed an institutional bias that is nothing to do with solving environmental problems, and everything to do with marketing pet technologies.

“Nuclear energy is the only proven way to transition from coal to clean electricity generation. Nuclear energy has problems with high costs and low public confidence, but without it, there is an even greater risk that we will miss our climate targets.

“This is why anyone who cares about solving climate change should be insisting that nuclear come to the table to explain how the industry intends to step up to drive down costs and build public confidence. But instead, by blocking nuclear from the conversation, and insisting on a conditional, renewables-only, response to climate change, UNEP have displayed a dangerous ideological agenda that undermines their own credibility.

“If the UNEP lacks the courage and conviction to tackle these difficult conversations, even at the risk of annoying the antinuclear greens, what chance do we have of stepping up to solve climate?”