Phase Out Nuclear Energy Globally and Urgently from Northeast Asia and Indigenous Lands

• Proposed by: Green Party Korea, Trees Party Taiwan
• Adopted by: the Global Greens 4th Congress

Recognising that:

• the Greens oppose any expansion of nuclear power and will work to phase it out rapidly; (Global Greens Charter, clause 3.5)
• the Greens promote the levying of taxes on non-renewable energy and the use of funds raised to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy. (Global Greens Charter, clause 3.9)
• nuclear disaster is an unacceptable global risk; and
• nuclear pollution remains toxic to ecological systems in perpetuity;

this resolution calls for the phasing out nuclear energy globally and urgently in Northeast Asia, as a matter of environmental, social and generational justice. 

To achieve the global goals set out in the UN Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals, changes need to be made to national energy production and consumption. 

In world energy consumption, China ranks first, Japan fifth and South Korea eighth, and together these nations emit 33% of the world’s greenhouse gas. To reconcile the need for energy and a sustainable climate, these countries are pursuing a policy of increasing the number of nuclear power plants in their region. China is currently operating 34 nuclear power plants (29.4 GW) and is constructing 21 more (21.5 GW). Korea is operating 25 nuclear power plants and planning to build 11 more by 2029. Japan’s 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant meltdown has spread radioactive contamination across the whole world and has been especially harmful for those living in the region. Nevertheless, Japan, too, is accelerating its move to reactivate the nuclear power plants that have been closed since the Fukushima accident. This is a wrong decision. 

Nuclear power plants is the wrong approach to solving climate change. Recognising that Northeast Asia has the highest density of nuclear power plants and one of the highest greenhouse gas emissions in the world, the Global Greens urge Korea, China, and Japan to work together to make a genuine energy transition in the region as a matter of high priority and urgency. 

To contribute towards that objective, the Greens will organize a global Climate Change campaign to phase out nuclear energy globally. This campaign will facilitate sharing of information, experience and solutions for transitioning to renewable energy from local to global levels.

This includes working together to phase out the entire nuclear fuel chain: from uranium mining, to the storage of nuclear waste, to the decommissioning of nuclear power plants; and investing in the cleaning of the earth, ocean and foods polluted by the nuclear fuel chain. The Greens call in particular for the immediate removal of nuclear waste from Indigenous homelands and for the restoration of the habitat to a healthy ecosystem.