CLEAN ENERGY GROUPS LAUNCH INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO KEEP NUCLEAR POWER OUT OF GLOBAL CLIMATE TALKS
WILL ORGANIZE LARGE NUCLEAR-FREE, CARBON-FREE CONTINGENT TO PARIS CLIMATE MARCH IN DECEMBER
16.06.2015 | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Clean energy groups from across the world today launched a new international campaign in preparation of December’s COP 21 climate summit in Paris, to ensure that climate negotiators will stand up for clean energy, and not to listen to the false promises of the nuclear energy lobby.
Download the full press release here.
Some of the groups were critical to a similar effort at the COP 6 negotiations in The Hague in November, 2000, which succeeded in barring nuclear power from the Kyoto Protocol’s carbon trading Clean Development Mechanism. And some of the groups also organized the large and highly visible Nuclear-Free, Carbon-Free contingent to last October’s People’s Climate March in New York City attended by some 400,000 people.
As the initial step in the campaign, the organizing groups today released for organizational sign- ons an international petition to world leaders in support of the nuclear-free, carbon-free path. The petition is available for sign-on here: www.wiseinternational.org/campaign/sign-petition
“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 sold as a climate-friendly option during the Climate COP21 this year,” explains Peer de Rijk of WISE-Amsterdam (World Information Service on Energy). “We are calling on 1,000 civil society organisations to join us for a campaign to block the nuclear industry’s lobby activities at COP21 and instead ensure the world chooses clean energy; it is the only real climate solution.”
"As Areva's financial problems keep increasing and will eventually be paid by French taxpayers, France should instead shift towards renewable energy,” said Danyel Dubreuil, campaign coordinator of the French antinuclear network Sortir du Nucléaire. “But the government keeps extending the lifetime of aging reactors and supporting a dirty, expensive, dangerous and declining nuclear industry and will most probably use the COP to try saving its national nuclear industry while promoting it as clean and climate-friendly. We condemn the sponsoring of the COP by polluting companies--and especially by EDF--and will denounce the greenwashing of the nuclear industry in Paris."
“Nuclear power is in no way a climate solution,” explained Michael Mariotte, President of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, based in the U.S. “Nuclear power remains dirty, dangerous and expensive; is not carbon-free; and encourages nuclear proliferation. Clean energy technologies like solar and wind power have plummeted in cost and are viable everywhere, while enhanced energy efficiency measures can be implemented anywhere. As a recent analysis by the U.S. Energy Information Administration found, increased deployment of nuclear power would steal resources away from those clean technologies, which are faster and cheaper at reducing global carbon emissions and thus more effective at addressing our climate crisis.”
“Nuclear power manifests a wide range of human rights violations, from the universal human rights to life and health, to disproportionate impacts on indigenous peoples, women, children, and future generations” said Sascha Gabizon of the global Women’s network WECF “it is sad that the COP21 Climate Summit takes place in France, where the nuclear industry has had unchecked powers”.
"Our children will be left with radioactive waste and atomic power plant wrecks. This will cost hundreds of billions of Euros and the radiation will be a burden to the coming 40,000 generations. Yet still there is no progress in handling nuclear waste worldwide. Decarbonization, as mentioned at the G7 summit talks recently at Elmau, is a step toward sustainable development, but only if nuclear energy is banned as well. This is our claim and we will carry it to Paris in December!" said Kerstin Rudek from Bürgerinitiative Umweltschutz Lüchow- Dannenberg.
"Nuclear power is the failing prophet, a self-styled messiah of low carbon that paints itself green in the face of the evidence of failing technology and massive cost, even before something really goes wrong as at Chernobyl and Fukushima, said Dr. Reinhard Uhrig of Austria’s Global 2000. “Don’t nuke the climate - Abschalten Jetzt!"
“Russia has had a catastrophic experience with nuclear power and nuclear waste management. At the same time, the Russian government is increasing its efforts to sell new reactors across the world as safe and climate friendly. This is cynical and irresponsible and must be stopped. There must be a clear statement made in Paris: no nukes; yes to clean energy,” said Vladimir Sliviak of Ecodefense, based in Moscow.
“A nuclear future would bring only more Fukushimas and Chernobyls” summed up Peer de Rijk of WISE Amsterdam. “Clean energy is the better way, and it more effectively reduces carbon emissions as well. That’s why we will be in Paris: to ensure that the world does not make the terrible mistake of returning to the failed nuclear path.”
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Contact:
- Tim Judson or Michael Mariotte, NIRS, 301-270-6477, nirsnet@nirs.org
- Peer de Rijk, WISE, +31 20 6126368, +31 6 20 000 626, director@wiseinternational.org
- Chantal Van den Bossche, WECF press, +31 6 28129992
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