BRUSSELS: Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Thursday emphasized the significance of nuclear energy in the fight against climate change and urged banks and international financial institutions to support nuclear energy projects in developing nations so they can meet their energy needs and reach zero emissions targets.
On the fringes of the inaugural Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels, Mr. Dar made this statement in a discussion with Rafael Mariano Grossi, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The minister was grateful for how the IAEA promoted the peaceful applications of nuclear technology.
He emphasized the significance of the IAEA’s technical cooperation activities and stated that Pakistan aimed to increase the proportion of nuclear energy in the energy mix.
FM Dar is in Brussels for the first Nuclear Energy Summit.
Mr. Grossi expressed gratitude for Pakistan’s cooperation with the agency and said that Pakistan is crucial in Asia in helping emerging nations by sharing its knowledge and experience. He promised to address the issue with international financial institutions shortly.
clean power
Meanwhile, Mr. Dar stated that energy security is a top priority for both the developed and developing worlds in a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“We require economical, clean energy. Nuclear energy offers a realistic answer for the future with its enormous power density, small carbon footprints, and zero greenhouse emissions, the minister was cited as saying in the release. He noted, “In the recent COP-28, we endorsed nuclear energy as one of the low-emission technologies.”
“We wish to further enhance our cooperation on DG IAEA initiatives, such as Atoms4NetZero, Atoms4Food, Rays of Hope, Zodiac, NUTEC Plastics, and Marie Curie fellowships,” stated the minister.
Mr. Dar emphasized three areas for nuclear energy development going forward: financing nuclear power plants, expanding the IAEA’s technical cooperation fund, and granting access to technologies.
On the fringes of the conference, Mr. Dar also met with Jeyhun Bayramov, the foreign minister of Azerbaijan.
The two parties discussed potential areas of collaboration in the areas of communication, transportation, and the economy as well as the planning for the Azerbaijani climate summit and the post-conflict situation in the region.
