International

Energy ministers and other high-level delegates from more than 20 nations and the European Commission will meet June 1-2 in San Francisco for the first Mission Innovation Ministerial since the project was launched at the Paris climate change negotiations in December. U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will host the event, which will feature energy and […]

Following a selection process led by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Patricia Espinosa, Mexico’s current ambassador to Germany, has been nominated for the position of executive secretary for the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. Before Espinosa’s appointment can be confirmed, Ban must consult with the Bureau of the UNFCCC. Following the completion of […]

NATO will hold its 12th annual Conference on Weapons of Mass Destruction Arms Control, Disarmament, and Nonproliferation next week in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The conference, to be held May 9-10, will involve “open and informal dialogue, addressing arms control and disarmament issues,” according to a NATO statement issued Friday. Ambassador Sorin Ducaru, the institution’s assistant secretary […]

The small East African island nation of Seychelles has become the 16th country to ratify the Paris Agreement. The nation represents such a small percentage of global emissions, however, that its addition barely wiggles the needle toward the numbers needed for the agreement to come into force. The accord will take effect shortly after at […]

Almost half of the world’s top 500 investors have ignored climate risk completely, according to the 2016 edition of the Global Climate 500 Index, an annual report produced by the Asset Owners Disclosure Project. “Climate change risk is now a mainstream issue for institutional investors and last year has seen many significantly step up their […]

The United Nations’ Open-Ended Working Group on multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations began its second round of meetings in Geneva, Switzerland this week. The working group serves as a forum for cooperative action, under the U.N. General Assembly, with the purpose to “address concrete effective legal measures, legal provisions, and norms that will need to be […]

The Boundary Dam Unit 3 Integrated Carbon Capture and Storage Project in Saskatchewan has been performing “exceedingly well” since an overhaul last fall, SaskPower CEO Mike Marsh told the editorial board of the Regina Leader-Post in a recently published Q&A. “We’re very happy with the performance of the plant. We’re achieving our production targets for […]

Residents in Cumbria, England, will decide how money from the Sellafield nuclear fuel reprocessing and decommissioning project will be funneled into community investment programs, the U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) announced Friday. Described as a “radical crowd sourcing scheme,” this new method of handling Sellafield’s community investment budget is one of several changes taking place at the site […]

Experts, policy makers, and the international community had mixed reactions to a foreign policy speech given by Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Wednesday that called for modernization of the nation’s nuclear weapons arsenal and a rebuilding of the U.S.-Russian relationship based on shared interests. In an address delivered in Washington, D.C., Trump called the […]

Barndioota, South Australia, has preliminary been selected as the site of the nation’s first permanent storage site for low- and intermediate-level nuclear waste, MP Josh Frydenberg, minister for resources, energy, and Northern Australia, announced Friday. The site was among six locations – two others in South Australia and individual spots in New South Wales, Queensland, and […]

In observing the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the European Commission on Monday pledged €20 million to its Nuclear Safety Account as part of the €45 million total expected from the multinational body and the Group of Seven nations. The fund finances decommissioning work for units 1, 2, and 3 at Ukraine’s Chernobyl […]

The Obama administration, according to multiple news reports, is buying 32 tons of heavy water from Iran as a follow-on to the historic nuclear accord negotiated last year, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory stands to play a key role in storing and selling the material and using a significant amount of it to boost […]

The number of signatories to the Paris Agreement grew slightly this week, to 177, with the addition of Seychelles and Gambia, the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change said Thursday. The vast majority of participating nations inked the accord on April 22 when it first opened for signatures. Fifteen parties have also ratified the deal: […]

New research from the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research indicates that climate change should drastically spread existing levels of oxygen loss in the oceans from 2030-2040. Oxygen reductions are already identifiable in the southern Indian Ocean and segments of the eastern tropical Pacific and Atlantic basins, according to the findings. Supercomputer-enabled modeling indicated that […]

A British Parliamentary committee on Wednesday supported an advisory panel’s recommendation for future carbon emissions reductions while offering some suggestions of its own, including targeting aviation emissions for cuts. The 2008 Climate Change Act requires the United Kingdom to by 2050 slash carbon emissions by 80 percent from 1990 levels. Toward this, the government is […]

The Senate’s fiscal 2017 energy and water spending bill was derailed on the floor Wednesday when a junior Republican senator’s controversial amendment to block a U.S. purchase of Iranian heavy water — part of the Obama administration’s role in a multilateral  nuclear nonproliferation deal with the Islamic republic — split the upper chamber along party lines and […]

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Wednesday called for modernization of the nation’s nuclear weapons arsenal and a rebuilding of the U.S.-Russian relationship based on shared interests. In a foreign policy speech delivered in Washington, D.C., Trump called the Obama administration’s foreign policy “reckless, rudderless, and aimless,” as well as “a complete and total disaster.” […]

Australia’s national science agency said Tuesday it would establish a Climate Science Center intended to provide climate modeling and forecasts for the nation. “The announcement today is a culmination of the ongoing consultation and feedback that we’ve had from our staff and stakeholders, and this new Centre is a reflection of the strong collaboration and […]

The U.S. State Department has denied that providing funding to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) would violate U.S. law now that the body has recognized Palestinian statehood. A group of 28 Republican senators, in an April 18 letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, called for a halt to all U.S. financial support […]

The Obama administration, according to multiple news reports, is buying 32 tons of heavy water from Iran as a follow-on to the historic nuclear accord negotiated last year, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee stands to play a key role in storing and selling the material and using a significant amount of it […]

Stakeholders worldwide need to align their planning for both the best and worst-case temperature rise scenarios envisioned by the Paris Agreement, the United Nations’ top climate change official said Monday. “The Paris Agreement, what it sets up is the possibility of a new reality, but it doesn’t guarantee that new reality. …. But now, the […]

The Green Climate Fund this week is conducting a “readiness week” in South Korea aimed at helping nations prepare projects that could receive financial support from the program. The meeting, which began Monday and continues through Friday, “will facilitate knowledge sharing and peer-to-peer learning, to develop country-driven projects and programmes that work towards low-carbon and […]

A European Commission grant program has provided the LEILAC consortium with a five-year, 12 million-euros grant for development and demonstration of a new carbon capture technology. The consortium – the acronym stands for Low Emissions Intensity Lime And Cement — is led by technology company Calix and includes Heidelberg Cement, Amec Foster Wheeler, Imperial College, […]

The U.S. State Department said Monday it had responded to the demand from nearly 30 Republican senators to withhold all future funding for the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change and associated entities for recognizing Palestine as a state. The department, though, did not discuss details of the response. “[R]egarding the letter from 28 U.S. […]

In observing the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the European Commission on Monday pledged €20 million to its Nuclear Safety Account as part of the €45 million total expected from the multinational body and the Group of Seven nations. The fund finances decommissioning work for units 1, 2, and 3 at Ukraine’s Chernobyl Nuclear […]

About a dozen companies have begun delivering on an estimated £500 million socioeconomic benefit package as part of the decommissioning process at Britain’s Sellafield nuclear fuel reprocessing and decommissioning site that will create 1,140 jobs per year until 2025. The companies agreed to deliver the benefit package, termed the Decommissioning Delivery Partnership (DDP), in January as part of […]

No funds for atomic energy defense activities may be used for contracts with or assistance to Russia as long as the U.S. maintains a deferred maintenance backlog for aging defense nuclear facilities, according to the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) proposal released Monday by House Armed Services Committee (HASC) Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas). […]

Swedish nuclear waste company Studsvik announced Monday a joint venture with Japan’s Kobe Steel, in which the companies will deliver waste management design, engineering, and implementation services for Japanese nuclear sites. The announcement says the venture will combine Studsvik’s design and engineering experience, particularly its THOR radioactive waste treatment technology, with Kobe’s industrial and delivery capabilities […]

A total of 175 parties Friday signed the Paris Agreement, taking a significant toward bringing the climate change accord into force. “Let us stand back and take this in for just a moment. This is history in the making,” United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said Friday, opening the formal signing ceremony. “The spirit of […]

Advances in carbon capture, utilization, and storage technology will be key to carrying out the Paris Agreement’s goals of curbing greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, four nongovernmental organizations said on Friday. On Friday, 174 nations and the European Union signed the climate change accord, which will come into force upon ratification by at least […]