Why nuclear power must be part of the energy mix for climate fight to succeed

Every renewable energy source must be aggressively pursued across the globe, be it wind, solar, hydro, tidal or geothermal

Nuclear power has long had bad press, but the urgency of the climate crisis and its safety relative to other power sources make it worth another look

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Quentin Parker

Quentin Parker is professor emeritus at the University of Hong Kong and CEO and co-founder of the NGO S3+1.

Published: 1:30am, 12 Mar 2022Updated: 2:26am, 12 Mar 2022

The continued burning of fossil fuels, and even its growth in some countries, threatens us all. The evidence of human-induced global warming and climate change is incontrovertible to any scientist, with the debate shifting to the need for drastic action and how to limit the scale of the changes which are becoming more evident every day.

Last November’s UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow was merely the latest global talk fest and call for drastic action that seems to have petered out barely after the ink was dry on the signed agreements.

This is against the backdrop of damaging floods, more violent and frequent storms, drought and wildfires across vast swathes of the United States, Canada, Russia, Australia and even Europe.

We are in the Anthropocene era, where human activity has become the dominant force on our climate and environment. We are also in the associated extinction event where many species are suffering, declining or disappearing across the planet as human numbers grow, resources and habitats are consumed and the environment is trashed over what, in geological timescales, is the blink of an eye.