Ukraine joins COP28 declaration to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050

MOSCOW. Dec 4 (Interfax) - Over 20 countries have supported a declaration adopted by the participants in the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050, recognizing the key role of nuclear energy in achieving global net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, Ukrainian media have reported with reference to an Energy Ministry statement.

Deputy Energy Minister Svetlana Grinchuk is representing Ukraine at the COP28 conference being held in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

The countries that have endorsed the declaration include Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ghana, Hungary, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The participants have committed to take domestic actions to ensure nuclear power plants are operated responsibly and in line with the highest standards of safety, sustainability, security, and non-proliferation, and that fuel waste is responsibly managed for the long term.

They have recognized that new nuclear technologies could occupy a small land footprint and can be sited where needed, partner well with renewable energy sources, and have additional flexibilities that support decarbonization beyond the power sector, including hard-to-abate industrial sectors.

They have also pledged to mobilize investments in nuclear power, including through innovative financing mechanisms, the declaration says.