COP28 saw an unprecedented presence for nuclear energy. This year, there was a full program of activity on nuclear energy across many venues in Blue and Green Zones and, for the first time, a real presence in the main plenary. The inclusion of nuclear energy alongside other clean energy technologies in the UAE Consensus set a historic precedent with its recognition of nuclear power as a means to achieve Net Zero. We also welcome the increased ambition of 22 countries to triple nuclear energy by 2050.
“The Conference of the Parties calls on...accelerating zero- and low-emission technologies, including, inter alia, renewables, nuclear, abatement and removal technologies such as carbon capture and utilization and storage, particularly in hard-to-bate sectors, and low carbon hydrogen production.” – UAE Consensus
Terra means earth, and Praxis means putting thought into action. The question now is how these intentions will actually be delivered.
We are encouraged by the emergence of a new narrative around Net Zero, driven by large industrial energy users focused on how to meet their 2030 goals. This new narrative signals a shift from hypothetical Net Zero pathways developed by policymakers and think tanks that have no role in implementation towards realistic pathways that can be implemented at speed and scale. The release of Microsoft’s Nuclear Policy Brief and the leadership voiced by Google, Microsoft, and Terra Praxis in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) start to send the demand signal that the advanced nuclear industry needs. Microsoft’s Policy Brief and the WSJ article also bring to light the vital role digital solutions and AI play (e.g., the Terra Praxis and Microsoft app to EVALUATE the business case for repowering a plant, and AI to reduce the cost and time for completing licensing and permitting applications).
Our team Kirsty Gogan & Eric Ingersoll, Founding Partners and Co-CEOs, and Jon Guidroz, Senior Vice-President for REPOWER shared our policy platform: Climate strategies that enable the repurposing of existing infrastructure to run on emissions-free energy and produce emissions-free fuel are a practical, achievable, scalable, and equitable way to reach a carbon negative economy and put the world on a fast path to growth and decarbonization by 2050.
We spoke and took part in several panel sessions both at the Blue and Green Zones. We also saw REPOWER Consortium members come out in full force. If you missed them, you can find the recordings to several sessions and links to Consortium activities below:
December 1 (Friday)
Countries Launched a declaration to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050, Recognizing the Key Role of Nuclear Energy in Reaching Net Zero. The declaration recognizes the key role of nuclear energy in keeping within reach the goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
December 3 (Sunday)
Addressing the Global Clean Power Gap: Tools and Pathways to Bankability
10:00 – 11:00 Zero-Carbon Future Pavilion.
Speakers: Joe Curtin, Managing Director Power & Climate, Rockefeller Foundation; Nicole Iseppi, Managing Director Global Energy Innovation, Bezos Earth Fund; Naomi Wagura, Director Country Programs, GEAPP; Mauro Soares, Co-founder and COO, and Florencia Agatiello, Global Head of Research, RELP; and Martin Nagell, Director Mergers and Acquisitions, Masdar.
December 4 (Monday)
A Global Playbook for Nuclear Energy Development in Embarking Countries: Six Dimensions for Success
11:00 – 12:00 IAEA Atoms4Climate Pavilion, Blue Zone.
Join Ernest J. Moniz, Founder & CEO, Energy Futures Initiative; and Armond Cohen, Executive Director, Clean Air Task Force.
December 5 (Tuesday): ENERGY DAY
Novel Approaches to Engaging Nuclear Newcomers
11:00 – 12:00 Net Zero Nuclear Pavilion, Blue Zone.
Join Jon Guidroz, SVP REPOWER Terra Praxis along: Bonnie Jenkins, Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, US Department of State; Isabelle Boemeke – Isodope; Tim Gitzel, CEO, Cameco; Rafal Kasprow, CEO, Orlen Synthos Green Energy; and moderated by Jennifer Gordon, Director, Nuclear Energy Policy Initiative, Atlantic Council Global Energy Center.
Decarbonizing the Offshore Maritime Industry
12:30 – 13:30 Climate Finance Stage.
Hosted by DP World.
The Necessary Role of Nuclear in the Energy Transition
13:40 – 14:15 Technology and Innovation Stage
Hosted by General Electric.
Recommissioning Sites, Reinvigorating Communities, and Reducing Environmental and Health Impacts
15:45 – 16:30 Net Zero Nuclear Pavilion, Blue Zone.
Kirsty Gogan, Founding Director & Co-CEO, Terra Praxis will be joined by Christine John, Senior Manager, Indigenous Relations, Ontario Power Generation; and Kirsten Cutler, Senior Strategist for nuclear Innovation, U.S. Department of State; moderated by Dinara Ermakova, Anthropocene Institute.
Jump Starting the Global Deployment of Nuclear Energy
17:00 - 17:45 US Center, Blue Zone.
During this session, Melanie Nakagawa, Microsoft Chief Sustainability Officer launched a comprehensive new Policy Brief on the vital role of nuclear energy in meeting our clean energy goals: “Accelerating a Carbon-Free Future: Microsoft Policy Brief on Advanced Nuclear and Fusion Energy.”
Other speakers included: David Livingston, Senior Advisor to the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate; Bill Gates, Chairman of TerraPower (virtual); Reta Jo Lewis, Chair of the US XM Bank; Bonnie Jenkins, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs; Andrew Kofi Egyapa Mercer, Deputy Minister of Energy, Ghana; and Frederic Beauregard Tellier, Director General for Nuclear Energy, Natural Resources Canada.
The strategic collaboration with Terra Praxis and its work on REPOWER is cited as an example of how Microsoft is leveraging digital technology to support an inclusive decarbonized energy system.
Accelerating Deployment of Nuclear Energy
18:30 - 19:00 COP28 Presidency Space, Meeting Room 5, Blue Zone.
The COP28 Presidency and the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) co-hosted this event to announce the IAEA Statement on Nuclear Power.
December 6 (Wednesday)
Nuclear for Maritime and Maritime for Nuclear
10:30 –11:00 am Net Zero Nuclear Pavilion, Green Zone.
Kirsty Gogan presented on this panel alongside Tony Huston, Managing Director - US Country Head, Core Power. This session was moderated by Mark Nelson, Founder & Managing Director, Radian Energy Group.
Preserving Communities Through a Coal to Nuclear Just Transition
9:30 – 10:30 IAEA Atoms4Climate Pavilion, Blue Zone.
Speakers: Jason Hansen, Senior Research Economist, Idaho National Laboratory; Pat Dalzell, Executive Director, Corporate Affairs, Bruce Power; Ana Birchall, Special Envoy for Strategic and International Affairs, Nuclearelectrica; and Jessica Johnson, Communication and Advocacy Director, nucleareurope.
Taking Stock of Nuclear Energy’s Role in Climate Action
13:30 – 14:30 IAEA Atoms4Climate Pavilion, Blue Zone.
Kirsty Gogan spoke on this IAEA panel, with Enobot Agboraw, Executive Secretary, AFCONE; Daniel Westlén, Vice Minister for Climate and the Environment, Sweden; and Hal Turton, IAEA.
Nuclear for Net Zero Night
18:30 – 20:00 L’ Atelier de Joel Robuchon Dubai
Terra Praxis joined this reception for nuclear energy stakeholders hosted by the Atlantic Council, in collaboration with the Clean Air Task Force and Third Way/Carbon-Free Europe.
December 7 & 8 (Thursday - Friday)
Net Zero Nuclear Summit
9:00 – 17:45 Rixos Premium Hotel, JBR
December 8 (Friday)
Atoms4NetZero & Net Zero World Initiatives
9:30 – 10:30 IAEA Atoms4Climate Pavilion, Blue Zone
With Katy Huff, Assistant Secretary for the Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. DOE; Paul Kearns, Laboratory Director, U.S. DOE Argonne National Laboratory; Huang Wei, Director, IAEA; Henri Paillere, Head, Planning and Economic Studies Section, IAEA; and Hyekyung Kim, Energy Systems scientist, Argonne National Laboratory.
Nuclear Energy at Scale: A New Pathway to Meet the Climate and Human Development Challenge
11:00 – 12:00 Zero-Carbon Future Pavilion.
Speakers include Katy Huff, Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy; Henri Palliere, Head Planning and Economic Studies Section, IAEA; Carlos Leipner, Global Director, Advanced Nuclear Energy, Clean Air Task Force; Stephen Yamoah, Executive Director, Nuclear Power Ghana; and Michel Berthelemy, Chief of Staff & Nuclear Strategic Policy Advisor, OECD NEA.
REPOWER CONSORTIUM AND ALLIES AT COP28
Many members of the REPOWER Consortium and other allies were out in force at COP28, moving the needle in critical ways. We celebrate your work! The continued strategic integration of our collective solutions will pave the way to REPOWER and meeting the climate challenge.
· Anthropocene Institute’s “Youth Hour: Ask a Nuclear Engineer” and “Recommissioning Sites, Reinvigorating Communities, and Reducing Environmental and Health Impacts” with Kirsty Gogan.
· AVEVA's showcase of digital climate solutions.
· Centrus Energy agreements with Lightbridge and Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited.
· Carbon Tracker’s events on carbon budgets, finance, and more.
· ClearPath sessions on advanced nuclear “poised for global deployment,” carbon management, and conservatives taking bold solutions to COP28.
· ARC Clean Technology, Bruce Power, BWX Technologies, ClearPath, Constellation, Deep Isolation, Holtec International, Kairos Power, Lightbridge Corporation, Nuclearelectrica, Nuscale, OPG, Oklo, ORLEN Synthos Green, and TerraPower joining the Net Zero Nuclear Industry Pledge, along with 120 companies from 25 countries.
· Herbert Smith Freehills’ hub provided resources, updates, and insights.
· Lloyd’s Register Foundation events, including the Under2 Coalition roundtable and release of the Lloyd’s Register Foundation World Risk Poll.
· MIT’s “Knowledge to Action: Co-developing Local Solutions to the Climate Crisis.”
· Oklo reaffirmed its commitment to a resilient fuel supply chain, along with Centrus Energy Corp., Idaho National Laboratory, and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
· Schneider Electric and ICBA’s MoU to empower youth and women in sustainability and urging of the corporate sector to do more.
· Tractebel, Hatch, and Laurentis Energy partnership to develop nuclear technology solutions for industrial clients worldwide.
· Terrestrial Energy and Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation MOU.
· Ultra Safe Nuclear and Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) signing of an MOU to explore commercial development of USNC’s Micro-Modular™ Reactor (MMR®) Energy Systems.
· Westinghouse and ENEC's agreement to explore eVinci Microreactor Deployment.
· ENEC’s MOU with X-Energy to collaborate on the advancement of nuclear energy technologies.
· TerraPower and ENEC signed MOU to explore uses for advanced reactors, such as for storing power, H2 production, and decarbonizing coal, steel, and aluminum plants.