(526.5143) WISE Amsterdam - The so-called COP6 meeting in The Hague will conclude three
years of negotiations on the rules for the implementation of the protocol (a legally binding
agreement) signed in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997. The protocol requires cuts in global greenhouse gases
by 8% to 12% by 2010.
The Clean Development Mechanism is one of the Kyoto Protocol's so-called "flexible mechanisms". It
is intented to allow industrialized countries to offset their greenhouse gas reduction targets by
funding projects in developing countries that lead to reduced emissions. One of the most important
issues is what technologies and practices should be eligible. At the last meeting of the Climate
Change Convention in Bonn last November (COP5), a majority of European Union member-states demanded
that nuclear power be excluded from the CDM. The notable exceptions were the UK and France which,
with pro-nuclear Japan, Canada, the US and developing countries such as India and China, want
nuclear power in the CDM, thus making it eligible for carbon reduction credits.
Most EU member-states and European Commission insist that countries should not be allowed to offset nuclear projects financined abroad against pledges to cut emissions at home. But the UK and Frnace are resisting attempts to introduce a ban on nuclear power qualifying for credits, arguing that it should be left to developing countries to decide for themselves what kind of clean energy to promote. If the argument over nuclear energy is not resolved soon, the dispute among EU government's threa-tens to weaken the union's bargaining position when officials for 30 countries meet for formal talks in Malaysia at the end of March--the first to specifically address the question of flexible mechanisms since COP5 in Bonn. Most EU member-states and the commission contend that nuclear energy is expensive, generates waste and is financially unsound. A commission official said the commission was seeking agreement on a positive list of energy sources which could qualify as CDMs, but would accept a "negative" list of those which would be excluded.
In contrast to its high-profile lobbying of recent years, the industry is currently pursuing a softly-softly approach to getting nuclear into the CDM. In the lead up to COP5, the industry urged supportive governments not to openly endorse nuclear for fear of a backlash, especially just after the Tokaimura accident in Japan. Their new tactic is to shape the rules of the CDM so that no technology or practice is excluded, thus allowing nuclear to gain eligibility for the mechanisms by default. We have to make sure that nuclear power is explicitly excluded from the CDM. This will clearly be one of, if not the most, controversial issues, under nogotiation at the COP6 meeting in The Hague.
Allowing CDM credits for nuclear power will be seen as an endorsement of the nuclear industry's
argument that it has a role to play in combating climate change. This could encourage developing
countries to go down the nuclear road, and help those developing countries who cling to the nuclear
dream justify further subsidies for their nuclear power programs, extension of reactor operating
lives, and even new build.
The legitimacy it would give to the nucler industry could also jeopardize phaseout plans,
legislated or de facto, in a number of countries. In short, CDM credits would help legitimize a
dying industry which has no other arguments left.
To allow this would be a disaster. It would risk not only a new dawn for this polluting and
dangerous industry, but undermine efforts to combat climate change. It would mean replacing one
environmental threat with another.
The China and Vietnam example
According to a report in the Vietnam News, a proposal to build Vietnam's first atomic power plant
by 2020 is expected to be submitted to the government in May to meet the country's growing demand
for electricity. The construction of the US$3-billion plant, to be located in Phu Yen province on
the central coast, comes within a recently concluded six-year study on strategies to develop atomic
energy by the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute. The institute says it would be paid for partly by
foreign investors, partly by selling "carbon dioxide credits" obtained for the plant. It shows how
the industry sees the credits being used.
Or take the example of China: Chinese Minister for Planning Zeng Peiyan said China has no plans in the short term for more nu-clear plants but wants to finish work on plants already under construction as quickly as possible. China's next five-year economic plan is now being drafted and is to be put into operation next year. Zeng announced this in a speech on March 6, to the annual session of China's legislature, the National People's Congress. Good news, one would think: not long ago, China had plans to construct 20,000-MW of nuclear capacity until 2010. But as reported in June last year (WISE News Communique 513.5047: "China: 130,000 nuclear workers to be fired"), those plans proved to be too optimistic: one of the largest nuclear markets as predicted by the nuclear industry collapsed completely. But perhaps it could turn out not to be that simple.
It could well be that China only postpones the decision to build nuclear plants until after the COP6 meeting. A decision to allow nuclear power to be eligible for CDM credits at The Hague could rapidly see the mechanism become a subsidy for nuclear power in China.
Sources:
- "The Clean Development Mechanism; an instrument for sustainable development or a new nuclear subsidy?", Greenpeace International, March 2000
- European Voice, 9 March
- Japan Economic Newswire, 8 March
- AP, 6 March 2000
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