COP28 : prise de parole du Président Emmanuel Macron sur le nucléaire civil.

Thank you very much. Dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. I'm very happy with a lot of Europeans and non-European colleagues to be here, indeed to advocate for nuclear energy and being here with our international agency and to have the chance with Mr. Director-General for the very good job being made. And indeed with Gaia, Poland, Belgium, Sweden, Czech Republic, USA and D.G. Grossi and other colleagues from Asia and Africa, and a lot of CEOs and civil society here, just say a few words of the contribution of nuclear energy to the fight against climate change. First, I want here to reiterate the fact that nuclear energy is a clean energy. And it should be repeated.

The IPCC says it is four times less carbon intensive than gas, for instance, and equivalent to wind. Second, nuclear energy is also a stable and pilotable form of energy, which means that this is a perfect complement to renewables. And during a few years, we did study in France, the strategy for 2030, 2050. We made a lot of reports in order to see where we should go. And the perfect both scientific and political consensus was we need both renewable and nuclear. And this is a perfect complement in order to pilot precisely what we need and to deliver our program. At this very moment, in France, nuclear energy provides about 70 percent of our electricity.

And thanks to nuclear energy, our electricity production is almost fully carbon neutral and one of the cleanest of the world. And if you look at a map of electricity in Europe, you can clearly see that countries with nuclear, like France, Belgium, Sweden, and all those who will join, I hope so, are among the countries which emit the least and are the cleanest in our continent. And today we are witnessing a relaunch of nuclear power all over the world. A lot of countries being present here are clearly studying, starting to invest in nuclear programs, which is a very good news.

And from Europe to Asia, North America, obviously, many developing countries want to invest in this sector, and especially in small modular reactors because it is a reliable and safe alternative to fossil fuel. It's also a good investment for strategic autonomy. And I want to insist on that. If you want to reconcile jobs creation, strategic autonomy and sovereignty, and low carbon emission, there is nothing more sustainable and reliable than nuclear energy. Because this is not an energy you import, and this is not an energy which pollutes.

And this is why I do believe that this commitment and the goal of tripling nuclear capacity by 2050, we are endorsing today, sends an extremely powerful signal to the world. Nuclear energy is back, and it is an indispensable solution to the fight against climate change. Of course, this target will not be achieved without a strong international architecture. And this architecture should be designed to support the development of nuclear energy, notably in developing and emerging economies. We need the World Bank, international financial institutions, multilateral development banks to include nuclear energy into their energy lending policies.

We need to accelerate innovation and help to leapfrogging, because this energy should be accessible to emerging countries. And this is why it's part of the package of our JETP initiatives to allow a lot of emerging countries to be part of these programs and to have nuclear energy being part of the portfolio of solutions in order to decarbonize their own energy. And this is why we have to follow up and increase the investment in innovation. First, in order to stabilize new solutions, to reduce waste, to secure, but as well to stabilize innovative solutions at the lowest possible costs of production. And this is very important in the whole initiative.

We also need safety measures, notably by supporting countries which are candidates for nuclear, to build the necessary policies, regulations, and safety measures that are indispensable. And this is why this is obviously about economy and energy. This is about innovation and inclusiveness. But this is as well about regulation and safety. And this is why the role of IAEA is crucial in that matter. There is no sustainable, reliable development of nuclear energy without such a regulatory framework being shared by all the countries. Those who do have this energy and those who are candidates in order to increase this energy.

For all these reasons, France will support the nuclear summit convened by Prime Minister De Croix and IAEA Director General Grossi on March in Brussels next year. I think this is a great initiative and we will do whatever we can to help facilitate and accompany this very important initiative for all the reasons I mentioned. This summit will aim at building coordination on industrial issues like to the development of nuclear energy and will build on today's event in sending a clear message on the contribution of nuclear energy to the fight against climate change. And I do thank my dear colleagues being present here and endorsing new programs, new developments, and new capacity.

Thank you very much for your attention.