World Bank to end ban on nuclear energy projects, still debating upstream gas
The World Bank's board has agreed to end a longstanding ban on funding nuclear energy projects in developing countries as part of a broader push to meet rising electricity needs, the bank's president Ajay Banga said on Wednesday.
Banga outlined the bank's revised energy strategy in an email to staff after what he called a constructive discussion with the board on Tuesday. He said the board was not yet in agreement on whether the bank should engage in funding the production of natural gas, and if so, under what circumstances.
The global development bank, which lends at low rates to help countries build everything from flood barriers to railroads, decided in 2013 to stop funding nuclear power projects. It announced in 2017 it would stop funding upstream oil and gas projects beginning in 2019, although it would still consider gas projects in the poorest countries.
The nuclear issue was agreed fairly easily by board members, but several countries, including Germany, France and Britain, did not fully support changing the bank's approach to embrace upstream natural gas projects, sources familiar with the discussion said.
"While the issues are complex, we've made real progress toward a clear path forward on delivering electricity as a driver of development," Banga said, adding that further discussion was required on the issue of upstream gas projects.
Banga has championed a shift in the bank's energy policy since taking office in June 2023, arguing the bank should pursue an "all of the above" approach to help countries meet rising electricity needs and advance development goals.
In his memo, he noted that electricity demand was expected to more than double in developing countries by 2035, which would require more than doubling today's annual investment of $280 billion in generation, grids and storage.
The Trump administration has been pushing hard for ending the ban on nuclear energy projects since taking office.
The U.S. is the bank's single largest shareholder — at 15.83%, followed by Japan with 7% and China with close to 6% — and the bank's decision to broaden its approach to energy projects will likely please President Donald Trump, who withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement and its emission-reduction targets as one of his first acts in January.
Twenty-eight countries already use commercial nuclear power, with 10 more ready to start and another 10 potentially ready by 2030, according to the Energy for Growth Hub and Third Way.
Banga said the World Bank Group would work closely with the International Atomic Energy Agency to strengthen its ability to advise on nuclear non-proliferation safeguards, safety, security and regulatory frameworks.
The bank would support efforts to extend the life of existing nuclear reactors, along with grid upgrades. It would also work to accelerate the potential of small modular reactors.
Trump administration officials and some development experts say developing countries should not be blocked from using inexpensive power to expand their economies while advanced economies like Germany continue to burn fossil fuels.
But climate activists worry that funding more nuclear and natural gas projects will divert funds away from urgently needed efforts by developing countries to adapt to climate change and benefit from abundant alternative energy sources such as solar.
"Net zero does not mean fossil fuel-free. It means, still, that there will be 20% energy coming from fossil fuels," said Mia Mottley, prime minister of Barbados. "We know natural gas is that clean fuel."
Banga said the bank's revised strategy would allow countries to determine the best energy mix, with some choosing solar, wind, geothermal or hydroelectric power, while others might opt for natural gas or, over time, nuclear.
He said the bank would continue to advise on and finance midstream and downstream natural gas projects when they represented the least-cost option, aligned with development plans, minimized risk and did not constrain renewables.
The bank would further study evolving technologies like carbon capture and ocean energy, Banga said, adding it aimed to simplify reviews and approvals.
Banga said the bank would continue advising on and financing the retirement of coal plants, supporting carbon capture for industry and power generation, but not for enhanced oil recovery, which can typically secure commercial financing.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NHK
a day ago
- NHK
Iran to launch new enrichment center in response to IAEA resolution
The International Atomic Energy Agency has adopted a resolution criticizing Iran for failing to cooperate fully with the agency in its investigation. In response, Iran announced a plan to launch a new enrichment center. The agency's board of governors on Thursday adopted with a majority vote the resolution submitted by four countries, including the United States and Britain, at a meeting in Vienna, Australia. This comes after the IAEA compiled a comprehensive report on Iran's nuclear development last month. Regarding nuclear materials found at multiple undeclared sites, the report pointed out that Iran carried out nuclear-related activities at those sites until the early 2000s. The resolution calls on Iran to allow the agency to conduct at an early stage on-site inspections and collect samples. Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Atomic Energy Organization released a statement on Thursday. The statement condemns the four countries using the board of governors for political purposes. The statement says Iran will build a new uranium enrichment facility and also replace some centrifuges at an enrichment center in Fordo, central Iran, with advanced machines. There is concern that Iran's reaction could affect nuclear talks between the US and Iran, scheduled for Sunday.
Japan Times
2 days ago
- Japan Times
U.S. to review AUKUS as part of Trump's ‘America First' agenda
The future of the AUKUS security partnership between Australia, Britain and the U.S. — and with it Canberra's plans to acquire American nuclear-powered submarines — could be at stake as Washington reviews the initiative to ensure it aligns with U.S. President Donald Trump's 'America first' agenda. Announced late Wednesday by a Pentagon spokesperson, the decision, likely to raise eyebrows among U.S. allies and partners, was swiftly criticized by congressional Democrats but downplayed by Canberra. 'The Department is reviewing AUKUS as part of ensuring that this initiative of the previous (Joe Biden) administration is aligned with the president's America First agenda,' a Pentagon official told The Japan Times in an emailed statement. 'This means ensuring the highest readiness of our servicemembers, that allies step up fully to do their part for collective defense, and that the defense-industrial base is meeting our needs,' the official added. The remarks suggest that Washington is not only concerned about meeting its own submarine needs as it doubles down on deterring China, but also that it might want to use the review to increase pressure on Canberra to hike defense spending to 3.5% of its gross domestic product "as soon as possible." Asked about the review and whether he still thinks Canberra will get submarines out of AUKUS, Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said, 'I'm very confident this is going to happen,' calling the deal a 'treaty-level agreement' between the three countries. 'I think the review that's been announced is not a surprise,' Marles told ABC Melbourne Radio. 'We welcome it. It's something which is perfectly natural for an incoming administration to do,' he said, pointing out that Britain recently conducted its own defense review in which AUKUS was 'very' positively assessed. In terms of whether Canberra should consider a Plan B, Marles said that 'chopping and changing' would guarantee that Australia 'will never have the capability.' 'You just need to look at the map to understand that Australia absolutely needs to have a long‑range submarine capability,' he added. 'So, there is a plan here, we are sticking to it and we're going to deliver it.' The review will be led by Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon's undersecretary of defense for policy. While Colby has described AUKUS as a 'model' of the cooperation type Washington needs to meet 21st-century challenges, he has expressed skepticism over the benefits of the submarine sales element of the initiative, arguing before the U.S. Senate's Armed Service Committee in March that his country wasn't producing enough submarines to meet its own requirements in the Indo-Pacific region. 'It would be crazy' to have fewer U.S. nuclear-powered submarines in the right place and time, he tweeted last year, when referring to a potential conflict with China over democratic Taiwan. But Colby also said during his confirmation hearing in March that it 'should be the policy of the United States government to do everything we can to make this (AUKUS) work." Launched in 2021, AUKUS is Australia's biggest-ever defense project and arguably also its most geopolitically consequential. Canberra wants to acquire up to eight nuclear-powered submarines, including three Virginia-class subs from the United States from 2032, with the potential to acquire up to two more if needed. The remaining boats for the Royal Australian Navy, called 'SSN-AUKUS,' would then incorporate Australian, British and U.S. technologies. Regarded as a key element of the Biden administration's 'integrated deterrence strategy' against China, the trilateral program, which includes the establishment of a rotational presence of British and U.S. submarines at an Australian naval base near Perth, is forecast to cost between $268 billion and $368 billion Australian dollars ($174 billion to $239 billion) between now and the mid 2050s. But AUKUS is not merely a submarine program. Under the initiative's second pillar, the partners also want to step up research cooperation in advanced areas, such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence, electronic warfare and hypersonic missile capabilities. For these projects, the members have said they would be open to cooperating with close partners such as Japan, South Korea, Canada and New Zealand. The review comes as Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is set to meet Trump next week on the sidelines of the Group of Seven meeting in Canada, where the two sides are expected to discuss U.S. tariffs as well as Washington's demand that Canberra boost military spending to 3.5%. Albanese has said Canberra would not be dictated to by its ally, noting that the country is already planning to pour a significant amount of cash into defense coffers. Australia aims to increase its defense budget to about AU$67.4 billion in 2027-28 and AU$100 billion by 2033-34, putting it at 2.3% of GDP. The review also triggered a swift response from Democrats, with Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine calling on the president to 'work expeditiously' with Canberra and London to strengthen the agreement and further boost the U.S. submarine industrial base if he is 'serious about countering the threat from China.' Anything less, Kaine warned, 'would play directly into China's hand.' Analysts such as John Blaxland, from the Australian National University's Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, argue that while Trump may try and use the review to strike a deal — potentially on a slower submarine delivery schedule or Canberra hiking military spending — he is unlikely to spike AUKUS entirely. Writing in an analysis after the announcement, Blaxland noted several reasons why Trump might not scrap it. AUKUS is already several years in and over 100 Australian sailors are already operating in the U.S. system, he said. Perhaps more crucially, he also pointed to Canberra's potential contribution to the United States' submarine production line and the strategic value of the sub base near Perth, which is widely viewed as key in pushing back against Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
Japan Times
2 days ago
- Japan Times
France eyes social media ban for kids under 15 after school stabbing
French authorities have announced plans to ban social media for those under the age of 15 and the sale of knives to minors after the murder of a teaching assistant by a 14-year-old boy plunged the country into shock. A secondary school pupil was arrested on Tuesday after killing a 31-year-old school assistant with a knife during a bag search in Nogent in eastern France. Friends and well-wishers left flowers and messages of support in front of the secondary school struck by the tragedy. "We share your pain," read one message. Laurence Raclot, who knew the teaching assistant, Melanie, said she was "stunned." "She was great with kids," Raclot said. "In a quiet little town, we never would have thought this could happen." A former hairdresser, Melanie had retrained and worked at the school since September. She was the mother of a four-year-old boy and a councilor in a village near Nogent. "There are no words," added another local, Sabrina Renault. "It's really sad for her whole family, for that little boy who's left without his mum." Pupils and parents were seen entering and leaving the school, where a psychological support unit has been set up. The suspect will remain in police custody for a further 24 hours, until Thursday morning, a police source said on Wednesday. Little information has been released about his motive. In the wake of the attack, authorities promised a raft of measures to tackle knife crime among children. "I am proposing banning social media for children under 15," French President Emmanuel Macron said on social media platform X on Tuesday evening. "Platforms have the ability to verify age. Let's do it," he added. Backed by France and Spain, Greece has spearheaded a proposal for how the European Union should limit children's use of online platforms as evidence shows that social media can have negative effects on children's mental and physical health. Macron said on Tuesday that if no progress was made within several months, then France would go ahead with the ban unilaterally. "We cannot wait," he told broadcaster France 2. France has in recent years seen several attacks on teachers and pupils by other schoolchildren. In March, police started random searches for knives and other weapons concealed in bags at and around schools. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Francois Bayrou's office said a ban on the sale of knives to minors will be implemented by a decree issued within the next two weeks. Speaking to broadcaster TF1 on Tuesday evening, Bayrou said that the measure would come into force "immediately." The list will include "any knife that can be used as a weapon," he said. He also said parents and educators should be watching for "signs that a teenager is not doing well," while acknowledging that there was a shortage of psychologists. Bayrou has also called for a trial of metal detectors in schools. Education Minister Elisabeth Borne called for a minute's silence to be held in all French schools at midday on Thursday to honor the memory of the teaching assistant. "The entire educational community is in shock, as is the whole nation," she told France Inter radio on Wednesday. Borne said she was "open to anything" to improve safety but added that ceramic blades would be invisible to metal detectors. She also said that young people should be protected from "overexposure to screens." But trade unions said they were not sure how these proposals would be implemented and enforced. "Teaching assistants have primarily educational duties within the school environment," said Sophie Venetitay, general secretary of the SNES-FSU teachers' union. But, she added, "little by little, we have seen attempts to turn them into security guards." Remy Reynaud of the CGT Educ'action union criticized the government's decision to introduce bag searches outside schools. "They increase tensions," he said. "School management are pressuring teaching assistants to participate in the searches, which is not part of their duties."
