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S. Nakanwagi
of energy while goal 13 provides for taking action to combat climate
change. Moreover, the 2015 Paris Agreement
2 puts in place measures and
conditions for all Member States to mitigate climate change by reducing
emissions to ‘hold the increase in the global average temperature to well
below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the
temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels, recognising that
this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change’,
3
with access to clean energy being key in the cause. The world is, therefore, looking for cleaner forms of energy as compared to the traditional
fossil fuels which are considered detrimental to the environment for their
far-reaching consequences on the climate.
In the fight against climate change, therefore, all measures which alleviate the problem must be explored. Although nuclear energy was widely
shunned and a significant part of the population remains sceptical about
its use, it stands as one of the cleanest forms of energy with little emissions as compared to the widely used fossil-based fuels. It thus offers
a bigger platform for mitigating climate change and meeting electricity
demands of the world,
4 especially in the least developed countries like
those in the SSA region. Nuclear energy is a form of energy produced by
an atomic reaction, capable of producing a cleaner alternative source of
electrical power to that produced by traditional fossil fuels.
However, the use of nuclear power energy is not immune to criticism.
Following the Chernobyl nuclear accident of 1986 and the Fukushima
Daiichi accident of 2011 in Japan, many countries and people are cynical
about the use and production of nuclear energy.
5 This is because it
has many adverse related consequences if things go wrong, including
environmental degradation, social and economic loss and damage, inter
alia. These hazards have raised the global action, especially with an
2 See the Paris Agreement, 2015, United Nations, https://unfccc.int/files/essential_background/
convention/application/pdf/english_paris_agreement.pdf.
3 Ibid., Article 2.
4 OECD, Risks and Benefits of Nuclear Energy, 2007, Nuclear Agency, Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development pp. 19, 20.
5 Patricia Birnie, Alan Boyle and Catherine Redgwell, International Law and the Environment,
2009, Third Edition, Oxford University Press p. 488.
S. Nakanwagi
of energy while goal 13 provides for taking action to combat climate
change. Moreover, the 2015 Paris Agreement
2 puts in place measures and
conditions for all Member States to mitigate climate change by reducing
emissions to ‘hold the increase in the global average temperature to well
below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the
temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels, recognising that
this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change’,
3
with access to clean energy being key in the cause. The world is, therefore, looking for cleaner forms of energy as compared to the traditional
fossil fuels which are considered detrimental to the environment for their
far-reaching consequences on the climate.
In the fight against climate change, therefore, all measures which alleviate the problem must be explored. Although nuclear energy was widely
shunned and a significant part of the population remains sceptical about
its use, it stands as one of the cleanest forms of energy with little emissions as compared to the widely used fossil-based fuels. It thus offers
a bigger platform for mitigating climate change and meeting electricity
demands of the world,
4 especially in the least developed countries like
those in the SSA region. Nuclear energy is a form of energy produced by
an atomic reaction, capable of producing a cleaner alternative source of
electrical power to that produced by traditional fossil fuels.
However, the use of nuclear power energy is not immune to criticism.
Following the Chernobyl nuclear accident of 1986 and the Fukushima
Daiichi accident of 2011 in Japan, many countries and people are cynical
about the use and production of nuclear energy.
5 This is because it
has many adverse related consequences if things go wrong, including
environmental degradation, social and economic loss and damage, inter
alia. These hazards have raised the global action, especially with an
2 See the Paris Agreement, 2015, United Nations, https://unfccc.int/files/essential_background/
convention/application/pdf/english_paris_agreement.pdf.
3 Ibid., Article 2.
4 OECD, Risks and Benefits of Nuclear Energy, 2007, Nuclear Agency, Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development pp. 19, 20.
5 Patricia Birnie, Alan Boyle and Catherine Redgwell, International Law and the Environment,
2009, Third Edition, Oxford University Press p. 488.