Nuclear can't be the "exit"

Greenpeace and WWF strongly object to the proposal of allowing nuclear energy projects to be accredited under the CDM.

According to Isabelle Ljong (WWF Brazil) and Anders Gammelsaeter (Greenpeace France),the "proposal on including nuclear projects under the CDM is a result of industry lobbying and sign of short-term thinking" and the discussions weren't following the facts, but mirrored the power of the different industrial lobbies.

Arguments against nuclear energy
In a press conference, WWF and Greenpeace listed arguments against nuclear power as solution to the climate change problem:

1. "Focussing on nuclear power will block innovation in the power supply sector and thus hinder the development of real renewable energy.
2. When nuclear power plants are constructed it usually takes at least five years, and up to 4 years delays are normal. Besides, budgets are often overrun by up to 300%.
3. Nuclear power is claimed to be renewable by several countries like France and Russia, this is not true at all since the power plants have to be fueled by scarce uranium. If we substituted all fossil fuels for nuclear energy the world would run out of uranium in only four years.
4. For instance, wind power is a far cheaper solution as it generates both more electricity and more jobs.
5. Nuclear energy is still unsafe (the storage question is still not solved) and replacing fossil fuel with nuclear energy would simply replace one fundamental environmental problem with another.
6. It's not such a clean industry: Research carried out for the European Union concluded that when looking at the whole cycle of nuclear generation nuclear power stations would produce around 50% more greenhouse gas emissions than wind power.
7. Renewable energy on the other hand can generate almost six times the current global energy demand with today’s technology.
8. Nuclear power plants can be targets for terrorists and a source for nuclear weapons – this is important to keep in mind if this technology is to be transferred to developing countries. We shouldn't repeat the mistakes that were made in the past."
   

WWF and Greenpeace have a vision for the future which phases out the use of fossil fuel and nuclear in the share of energy use across the globe.

Forestation projects not to be included in the CDM
The CDM seems not to be the answer to all Climate Change problems, though: even the WWF in Brazil doesn't want to include forestation projects in the CDM. The long term effects would just not be measurable in a consistent way. WWF in this case supports the Brazilian government which opts for creating incentives for direct investments in forestation.

Whilst Isabelle Ljong didn't criticise her government, Anders Gammelsauer strongly asked the French delegation not to include nuclear power in the CDM.

oikos media productions®