The global response to address climate change is a key policy challenge of the 21st century. Many governments around the world have agreed that action should be taken to achieve large cuts in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over the coming decades, to adapt to the impacts of climate change and to ensure the necessary financial and technical support for developing countries to take action.
There is a growing scientific consensus that global annual GHG emissions will need to be reduced by at least 50% from today’s levels by 2050 if the world is to limit the average temperature increase to 2°C by the end of the century and avoid the worst consequences of global warming. This brochure describes the role that nuclear energy can play in helping to combat climate change, and sets that role in the context of all low-carbon electricity sources, with specific references to renewables.