The falling costs of renewable energy, such as solar PV and wind, do not give governments an accurate picture of how to invest in low-carbon generation, Michel Berthélemy, a nuclear energy analyst at the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, said last week during a webinar hosted by the Expert Group on Resource Management of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

Carolina Schmidt and Alok Sharma - respectively, COP25 president and COP26 president-designate - yesterday issued a joint plea for new and enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions and net-zero targets ahead of the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement. NDCs embody efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe has welcomed the nuclear industry into its debate on the policy responses required to address climate change and sustainable development. Today, UNECE's Expert Group on Resource Management held a session titled The role of nuclear energy resources in sustainable development as part of UNECE Energy Week 2020.

The world has entered a new era of energy transition - energy for people, planet and prosperity - and the big question facing us all is how it can emerge faster from crisis as stronger, connected energy societies, World Energy Council Secretary General and CEO Angela Wilkinson said in her address to the 11th Clean Energy Ministerial yesterday. Hosted this year by Saudi Arabia, the event was held entirely via live streaming.

The UK government has launched a COP26 Energy Transition Council to bring together leaders of the global power sector, to accelerate the transition from coal to clean power. Announcing the initiative at a Clean Energy Ministerial side event, Martin Callanan said this new partnership would "speed progress" for the next round of UN climate talks, in November 2020. Callanan, a life peer, delivered a keynote speech on behalf of COP President Designate Alok Sharma, at the CEM11 discussion Passing the Tipping Point: the next decade of clean energy cooperation held on 21 September.

Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak yesterday highlighted the contribution of the country's nuclear power sector, which this year celebrates its 75th anniversary, to the transition to low-carbon energy. During his address to the 11th Clean Energy Ministerial, Novak said the climate agenda was becoming an increasingly significant factor in changes to the wider energy industry.

The United Arab Emirates' world records in the development of solar power do not distract from an ambition to expand its use of nuclear energy to help facilitate the transition to a clean economy, UAE Minister of Energy Suhail Mohammed Faraj Al Mazroui said yesterday. In his address to the 11th Clean Energy Ministerial, the minister explained the progress the UAE has made with its Energy Strategy 2050.

Nuclear power must be included in all debates about the clean energy transition and tackling climate change, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today at the opening session of the Agency's Scientific Forum 2020. Panellists in the first session agreed there were issues that the industry must address in order to support its messages about the benefits of nuclear energy.

The fight against the coronavirus pandemic has underscored the important role the International Atomic Energy Agency plays in the major crises the world faces, its director general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said today in his opening address to the 64th regular session of the IAEA General Conference. These remarks were in addition to his formal statement published by the agency while he was speaking to the conference's participants, both those present at the IAEA's headquarters in Vienna and those watching via livestreaming of the event.

Untapped options for clean hydrogen - including the use of advanced modular reactors - can put the world back on the pathway to meeting the Paris climate goals, according to a new report from energy research and consultancy firm LucidCatalyst. The report says the clean energy transition from oil to hydrogen-based fuels could be achieved with a global investment of USD17 trillion, spent over 30 years from 2020 to 2050.

The nuclear industry has merely scratched the surface of the flexible benefits of nuclear power, according to panellists in a conference held this week ahead of the 11th Clean Energy Ministerial. The CEM11 side-event, Flexibility in Clean Energy Systems: The Enabling Roles of Nuclear Energy, included high-level speakers from the International Energy Agency, the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, as well as government officials from Canada, the UK and the USA. Hosted by Saudi Arabia, CEM11 will take place on 22 September.