John Duncan

BLOG ACTION DAY 2009: THE NUCLEAR EQUATION

Climate change, perhaps the biggest issue for the world community. Twenty years ago I experienced this at first hand in Sudan. To see the inexorable spread of the the Sahara southwards engulfing villages and fields that only a few years before had been fertile land was a real personal wake up call.

Today I am very conscious of the environmental aspect of our work in Arms Control & Disarmament. How to ensure that development of civil nuclear power is not diverted into nuclear weapon programmes is at the heart of what we are about. But on the conventional side too the environmental damage caused by landmines and cluster munitions is not only the fact that explosives, including heavy metals leach into the soil, but as agricultural land becomes too dangerous too use, people are often  forced to clear new land, increasing deforestation. 

It will be a major challenge to meet the  demand for energy across the world from renewable energy sources. Nuclear energy will be part of the solution. Gordon Brown set out our vision on this issue in his speech at Lancaster House conference earlier this year.

In my statement today at the UN I referred to David Miliband's comment that “Get it right, and we will increase global security, pave the way for a world without nuclear weapons, and improve access to affordable, safe and dependable energy. Get it wrong, and we face a new and dangerous era of new state nuclear weapon holders and the chilling prospect of nuclear material falling into the hands of terrorists.” 

Posted at 10:41 15 October 2009 by John Duncan  |  Comments[0]