The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA’s) second Climate Change Conference, in Vienna, Austria, was, on Wednesday, the platform on which the Net Zero Nuclear initiative updated delegates on its progress, and urged governments, industry leaders and civil society to cooperate in rolling out more nuclear power, to help combat climate change.

Net Zero Nuclear is a joint initiative of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the World Nuclear Association (WNA).

The aim of the initiative is to treble global nuclear generation capacity, to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

“If we triple global nuclear capacity that gives us a good route to get us to the target of net zero,” highlighted ENEC MD and CEO Mohamed Ibrahim Al Hammadi. “We invite you to join Net Zero Nuclear, sign our declaration, and spread the word to help us achieve this goal.”

The leading industrial groups that have so far partnered with Net Zero Nuclear are Centrus, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Terrapower and Urenco. More partners will be announced in the near future.

“We want to recognise the generous support of our industry partners,” affirmed WNA director-general Dr Sama Bilbao y León. “At the same time, we are looking to each and everyone here at this IAEA conference to join with us, whether you are a small [non-governmental organisation] or a large organisation, to bring visibility to the important and essential role of nuclear energy in the context of climate change.”

The twenty-eighth Conference of the Parties to the United Nation's Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) will be held in Dubai, in the UAE, later this year. In the run-up to COP28, Net Zero Nuclear seeks to bring governments and industry together to enter into a dialogue that will be evidence-led, solutions-focused and actionable, and intended to allow the rapid enlargement of the global fleet of nuclear power plants, as well as the acceleration of research and development into new generation nuclear technologies. The aim is to make certain that nuclear energy’s potential, to help decarbonise global energy systems, will be completely fulfilled.