Publication Laka-library:
Nuclear power: undermining action on climate change: case study & alternatives
| Author | Greenpeace Int. |
 |
6-01-2-15-49.pdf |
| Date | December 2007 |
| Classification | 6.01.2.15/49 (NP & GREENHOUSE EFFECT - CO2 REDUCTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE) |
| Front | 
|
From the publication:
Nuclear power
undermining action
on climate change
Briefing 2007
greenpeace.org
CASE STUDY &
ALTERNATIVES
BRIEFING DECEMBER 2007
Nuclear power
undermining action on climate change
Introduction
“The question is not whether climate change is happening or not but whether,
in the face of this emergency, we ourselves can change fast enough.”
Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, November 20061
There is a clear scientific consensus that we must halve global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
by 2050 or suffer changes to the global climate with catastrophic consequences. Avoiding the
most severe impacts of climate change requires governments, individuals and businesses
world-wide to take immediate action.
Some US $7 trillion are projected to be invested in new electricity generation capacity
between now and 2030.2 The energy investment decisions taken today will determine whether
or not the world achieves the necessary CO2 emission cuts in time.
The nuclear industry, which has been in decline in the US and Europe, has seized upon the climate
crisis as a revival opportunity, claiming to offer a carbon-free contribution to our future energy mix.
Nuclear power is an expensive and dangerous distraction from the real solutions to climate
change. Greenhouse gas reduction targets can only be met through using the proven
alternatives of renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency. Every dollar spent on
nuclear power is a dollar stolen from the real solutions to climate change.