Industry urges nuclear recognition in COP31's 35-by-35 pledge

Industry leaders have called for nuclear energy to be explicitly recognised in COP31's pledge to raise electricity to 35% of final energy demand by 2035. The World Nuclear Association reports 423 GWe of nuclear capacity existed at end-2025, with 88 GWe under construction, and notes global nuclear construction is at a 40-year high. The association's director general said the conversation has shifted from whether to triple nuclear capacity by 2050 to how fast it can be delivered, and flagged that investment, supply-chain development and workforce planning must accelerate in coming years. Thirty-nine countries have now signed a declaration to triple nuclear capacity by 2050, up from 22 at COP28.

Where this fits

Nuclear is the lowest-emission firm power available, yet Australia bans it by law while building a grid dependent on weather-dependent renewables. COP31's electricity target can be met with nuclear at far lower whole-system cost than the renewables-plus-gas path now under way. The global supply chain for solar panels, batteries and inverters is China-owned and coal-powered; nuclear fuel supply is diversified and secure. This story shows the technology working at scale, globally, at the moment Australia forecloses it.

What it means

A grid that meets COP31-style ambitions via Australian solar and wind requires massive firming capacity, transmission overbuild, and critical-material imports controlled by Beijing. Nuclear delivers firm baseload at lower lifecycle emissions and material intensity, without weather risk or Chinese supply-chain dependence. The global fleet proves the engineering; the barrier is political. Australia's ban means accepting higher grid cost, greater gas-lock-in, and energy-security exposure that a competing industrial power could exploit.