IAEA chief pushes development banks to fund new nuclear energy projects – FT

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency called on global development banks and their government shareholders to fund new nuclear projects, warning that failing to do so could delay the energy transition, Financial Times reported Monday.

Rafael Grossi said a lack of funding for emissions-free nuclear energy by multilateral lenders such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank was “out of step” with the wishes of most of their shareholders, pointing to a “sea change” in attitudes to nuclear power due to the climate crisis and the Russia-Ukraine war.

International finance institutions are “out of date, out of step with what is happening. This is a… post-Chernobyl sort of mantra, which does not correspond any more to the policy indication from countries and the ideas and projects we are seeing,” Grossi told FT.

The World Bank, for example, has not backed a nuclear project since 1959, due to opposition from Germany and concerns over the spread of nuclear technology that could be used to make nuclear weapons.

Nuclear energy advocates say the support of global development banks is critical in order to deliver on a goal set in December by more than 20 countries at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai to triple global nuclear capacity by 2050.

The IAEA estimates annual investment in nuclear energy would need to more than double to $100B by 2030 to meet the Paris Agreement target of net zero emissions by 2050.

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