Six additional nations sign onto Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy, pledging to triple nuclear capacity by 2050
Baku, Azerbaijan – Six additional countries signed onto the Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy at COP29 today, bringing the total to 31 countries pledging to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050. The pledge looks to accelerate the global clean energy transition and meet growing demand for reliable, zero-carbon electricity. The new signatures are El Salvador, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Nigeria, and Turkey.
“The world is aligning around these clear realities: We need much more energy than we currently have, it needs to be reliable, and we need to get it without increasing greenhouse gas emissions. Nuclear energy has a critical role to play in reconciling those realities, growing energy demand, bolstering energy security, and maintaining industrial competitiveness while providing clean firm power,” said Malwina Qvist, Director, Nuclear Energy Program at Clean Air Task Force (CATF). “Tripling nuclear capacity by 2050 would go a long way towards striking that balance, offering zero-carbon electricity, heat, and fuel around the clock and accelerating decarbonization timelines by up to a decade. The support from both financial institutions and countries alike today signals a broadening recognition of nuclear as a key contributor to the global energy mix. With new signatories from emerging economies, some pursuing nuclear energy for the first time, we’re seeing growing recognition that nuclear energy can play a vital role in increasing energy access and security, while equipping emerging economies with the tools they need for successful development. It will not be easy, however, and we must find innovative ways to enable the rapid, safe, and secure scale up.”
The declaration, first launched at COP28 in 2023, urges shareholders at international financial institutions to incorporate nuclear energy in their lending policies. At Climate Week in New York City this year, 14 financial institutions announced their support for the declaration. They include Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Ares Management, Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Brookfield, Citi, Credit Agricole CIB, Goldman Sachs, Guggenheim Securities LLC, Morgan Stanley, Rothschild & Co., Segra Capital Management, and Societe Generale.
Yesterday at COP29, the United States announced a commitment to add 35 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity by 2035 at a pace of 15 GW per year by 2040. The announcement included a detailed framework identifying key actions the U.S. government, the nuclear energy industry, and power customers can take to effectively scale and deploy nuclear energy.
Earlier this year, CATF, EFI Foundation (EFIF), and the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) established the Nuclear Scaling Initiative (NSI), an effort to catalyze and build a new nuclear energy ecosystem to scale to 50 or more gigawatts of clean, safe, and secure nuclear power per year by the 2030s, a tenfold increase of the current deployment rate.
The full declaration text is available here. For a full list of country signatories, visit CATF’s new COP29 Climate and Energy Declaration tracker.
Press Contact
Troy Shaheen, Communications Director, Clean Air Task Force, [email protected], +1 845-750-1189
About Clean Air Task Force
Clean Air Task Force (CATF) is a global nonprofit organization working to safeguard against the worst impacts of climate change by catalyzing the rapid development and deployment of low-carbon energy and other climate-protecting technologies. With more than 25 years of internationally recognized expertise on climate policy and a fierce commitment to exploring all potential solutions, CATF is a pragmatic, non-ideological advocacy group with the bold ideas needed to address climate change. CATF has offices in Boston, Washington D.C., and Brussels, with staff working virtually around the world. Visit catf.us and follow @cleanaircatf.
