Nuclear Energy And The Implications Of The UN World Summit On Sustainable Development

Journal Article · Sat Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 2003 · Nuclear News

OSTI ID:911973

Loewen, Eric Paul; Schutz, Donald

The 2002 United Nations World Summit On Sustainable Development (WSSD) at Johannesburg, South Africa wrought in significant turn-around on attitudes toward energy as the delegates came to recognize that energy is at the heart of sustainable development. As history demonstrates, developing countries will not suppress their need to convert environmental resources into energy to generate economic growth. Nations require the capability to generate local and regional incomes, not “transfer wealth” if they are to develop. And the WSSD also brought acknowledgement that developing countries cannot be expected to invest in expensive efforts to curb their production of greenhouse gasses. When the need for energy gained WSSD recognition, the European Union intensified their demand for renewable energy targets. Such targets quickly became a stumbling block for energy negotiations as the developed countries recognized that most of the challenge would fall upon them. The U.S. target, for instance, would require that 12% of all U.S. energy be generated by renewables by the year 2012.

• Research Organization: Idaho National Laboratory (INL)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC07-99ID13727
• OSTI ID: 911973
• Report Number(s): INEEL/JOU-02-01627
• Journal Information: Nuclear News, Journal Name: Nuclear News Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 46; ISSN NUNWA8; ISSN 0029-5574
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
ATTITUDES
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
GREENHOUSE GASES
NUCLEAR ENERGY
PRODUCTION
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
TARGETS
UN
WSSD
nuclear energy
renewable energy