Nuclear power generation will play a role in helping Japan meet its post-2020 greenhouse gas emissions targets. The country has announced its intended contribution towards a possible global climate agreement later this year.

A new study by economists at the Brattle Group has found that the nuclear industry contributes $60 billion per year to the USA's gross domestic product (GDP) in addition to limiting carbon emissions and other economic and societal benefits.

Austria's Constitutional Service of the Federal Chancellery today filed a lawsuit with the European Court against the European Commission's approval of state aid for the planned Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in the UK.

Germany's coalition government parties have agreed on measures to enable the country to meet its 2020 carbon emission targets while transitioning to renewable energy sources. As part of the deal, some coal-fuelled power plants will be shut down with others kept in reserve in case of energy shortages.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said today that a peak in global energy-related emissions could be achieved as early as 2020 and at no net economic cost, as one of four "key pillars" it believes are needed "to make the upcoming UN climate talks a success, from an energy perspective". Those talks - the 21st UN Conference of the Parties (COP21) – take place in Paris in December.

The leaders of the G7 group of industrialised nations have expressed their support for reaching a global climate agreement later this year, saying that a decarbonization of the global economy by 2100 is needed to achieve climate change targets.

Nuclear power is uniquely placed to support the socio-economic development of any country thanks to a combination of advantages over other fuels that goes beyond the supply of electricity, industry leaders agreed at the plenary session of the VII Atomexpo conference and exhibition being held in Moscow this week.

Climate concerns demand trillions of dollars of new sustainable energy infrastructure, said the World Energy Council, adding that it will not happen without a clear climate framework and a global emissions target.

The share of nuclear power in the Czech Republic's electricity generation mix is expected to rise from about 35% currently to between 46% and 58% by 2040. The target is part of the pro-nuclear elements of a long-term energy strategy - ASEK, according to its Czech acronym - which the country's trade and industry ministry published yesterday.

China and India issued a statement underscoring the importance of working together and with other countries to conclude an ambitious, comprehensive, universal, balanced and equitable climate agreement in Paris later this year.

Hundreds of people gathered at the Illinois State Capitol yesterday to call for the passage of low carbon energy legislation underpinned by the continued operation of the state's nuclear capacity.

More than three dozen societies for nuclear professionals around the world have signed the 'Nuclear for Climate' declaration, calling for nuclear energy to be recognized for its contribution towards combatting climate change.