Against coal and methane, for nuclear energy and renewable energy sources. On Saturday, countries gathered at COP28 in Dubai focused on the energy world of tomorrow, as well as tough negotiations on how to achieve a world without fossil fuels in a few decades, AFP reported.

Triple nuclear energy

Saturday began with a call by about 20 countries to triple the world’s nuclear capacity by 2050 from 2020, marking a striking general revival of interest in the atom, which can generate virtually carbon-free electricity but has suffered since the 2011 Fukushima accident.

“We know from science, facts and evidence that we cannot achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 without nuclear power,” US climate envoy John Kerry said at an event in Dubai with several world leaders.

“I want to repeat that nuclear power is a form of clean energy and it is worth repeating,” Emmanuel Macron said at the start.

“Nuclear energy is the future,” insisted his Polish colleague Andrzej Duda.

In addition to the United States and Canada, the roughly twenty signatories include, according to a list published by the Americans, pro-nuclear European countries, as well as South Korea, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates, which have just built their first plants. , and Japan restarting its power plants.

But China and Russia, the world’s leading builders of nuclear reactors, did not sign up.

This voluntary appeal is in no way binding within the UN.

The aim is to promote alternatives to fossil fuels, giving countries a case to hopefully agree to end the use of oil, coal and gas in a final COP agreement.

Environmentalists would prefer a nuclear-free transition: Masayoshi Iyoda of the non-governmental organization 350.org immediately condemned nuclear power as “dangerous”, noting that solar and wind power are less polluting.

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The tripling of renewable energy sources

Another, more consensual call for countries to triple their renewable energy capacity (solar, wind, hydro, biomass, etc.) by 2030 will be made here on Saturday, this time by 110 countries, including the EU and the G20.

Will this goal finally be accepted by consensus by the rest of the world at COP28?

In dozens of halls and open-air cafes at Expo City 2020, the venue of the event, thousands of negotiators from nearly 200 countries are meeting one by one to make progress on the real stake of COP28: the text or texts that must be adopted by consensus by December 12.

The most difficult points to discuss relate to reducing or even ending the use of fossil fuels: oil, gas and coal.

Let’s not forget about methane

After carbon dioxide (CO2), methane is the second most important greenhouse gas, contributing 30% to global warming. It’s natural gas that comes out of gas pipelines, gas wells, coal mines and our gas plants… as well as cow stomachs or rice paddies where the straw decomposes.

After years of inaction, governments and companies are beginning to adopt plans to reduce these emissions, often by 2030.

“To lower temperatures, we simply have to reduce methane emissions,” said Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, who has had influence at the COP despite her country’s small size.

China and the United States are finally cooperating on this issue. On Saturday, Washington announced its national plan to reduce methane emissions.

“Methane emissions from the coal industry are probably the most neglected human source of this gas, but the options to combat these emissions have been available to industry for decades and are also easy to implement,” commented Sabine Assan, an analyst at Ember.

As for the oil companies, all they have to do is stop flaring gas on their premises.

Private and national companies are expected to commit to this on Saturday in Dubai.

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