International nuclear body to have a high profile at the COP29 climate summit

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will highlight the role of nuclear energy, as a key instrument to achieve net-zero carbon emissions, during the COP29 UN Climate Summit. The summit will be held from November 11 to November 22, in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The IAEA delegation will be led by director-general Rafael Mariano Grossi.

“Now is the time to turn last year’s historic consensus [at COP28] in Dubai into action, advancing nuclear solutions to ensure energy security, achieve climate targets and promote sustainable development,” affirmed the IAEA in its statement.

The IAEA’s latest projection for civil nuclear energy, published recently, increased its forecast for nuclear generation capacity, for the fourth year in a row. Now, under the high-level scenario, global capacity worldwide in 2050 could be 150% greater than the current figure. A quarter of this expansion will be accounted for by small modular reactors.

The summit will include an event on “Accelerating Early Deployment of Small Modular Reactors”, on November 13. This will be co-hosted by Grossi and (outgoing) US Presidential senior adviser for international climate policy John Podesta.

At COP29, Grossi will call for more climate finance to be assigned to nuclear energy. He will participate in the “Financing Low Carbon Energy, Including Nuclear Energy” event, also on November 13, to discuss the scaling up of financing for all low carbon energy generation technologies, including nuclear.

The IAEA will host the Atoms4Climate pavilion at COP29. Here, it will display nuclear science, technology and power solutions for climate change monitoring, mitigation and adaptation.

Climate change affects food supply and security. The joint IAEA/Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Atoms4 Food initiative will host an event on November 12. The event will showcase successes achieved by the initiative in the fields of agriculture and food security, within the context of climate adaptation efforts by various efforts.

Another event that will be attended by Grossi will be the “Decarbonising and Adapting the Cotton-to-Clothing Value Chain through Multisectoral Partnerships” event. This will be a flagship event at the summit, and will also be attended by leaders of FAO, the UN Industrial Development Organisation, and the World Trade Organisation, among others. The event will highlight the use of innovative policies, partnerships and technologies and impel decarbonisation and strengthen climate resilience in the cotton sector.