COP30 produced limited energy commitments, emphasizing adaptation – The 30th UN Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil, adopted a text that triples adaptation finance and pushes deadlines from 2030 to 2035, but omitted any fossil‑fuel language and offered little direct impact on energy policy, including nuclear, according to World Nuclear Association senior programme lead Jonathan Cobb [1].
Nuclear appears in an expanding set of NDCs – Although the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) submitted for COP30 are insufficient to meet Paris Agreement temperature goals, 12 individual nations and the EU referenced nuclear power positively, increasing the number of countries planning to accelerate nuclear capacity toward the 2 °C target [1].
Tripling nuclear capacity pledge now includes 33 nations – Rwanda and Senegal announced joining the declaration to triple global nuclear capacity by 2050, raising the coalition of endorsing countries to 33, a development highlighted at a joint World Nuclear Association‑UK government event in the UK pavilion [1].
New financial and industry backers endorse nuclear growth – Financial institutions Stifel and CIBC signed a statement of support, while Equinix, Fermi America, Circularity, Kazatomprom and Nuclearis Energy joined pledges to expand nuclear deployment and large‑energy‑user commitments, signalling broader sector backing [1].
COP30’s high‑level segment was shifted, reducing visibility – The segment featuring prime ministers and the Prince of Wales was moved to the week before the main negotiations, diminishing media focus on the conference compared with previous COPs [1].
Future COPs set to spotlight nuclear, with Turkey hosting COP31 – COP31 in Turkey will occur as the country nears completion of its first reactor and plans further expansion; COP32 will be in Ethiopia—the first least‑developed‑country host—and COP33 is slated for Southeast Asia, where a second global stocktake will assess NDCs [1].