From a childhood fascination with "what small means" to simulating the power of the sun to bring affordable energy to all of mankind. This is the journey described by Sergio Orlandi, head of the Central Engineering and Plant Directorate at the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER).

Nuclear provides a perfect solution for the generation of large quantities of low-carbon and affordable hydrogen, the European nuclear trade body Foratom said today in a position paper. This, it said, will be key as Europe aims to transform all parts of its economy, including transport and industry. The position paper makes a number of policy recommendations aimed at recognising the contribution nuclear energy can make in decarbonising such areas.

Caring about the environment has traditionally focused on the scarcity of natural resources, but with nuclear power a healthier world can also mean abundance for all, environmentalist Ben Heard said today at the Atoms for Humanity discussion on Why Humanity Needs Nuclear produced by Russia's Rosatom. Heard is an advocate for nuclear power in his native Australia, through his directorship of environmental NGO Bright New World.

Nuclear energy is "a key pillar" of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), World Nuclear Association Director General Sama Bilbao y León said today during the launch of Rosatom's Atoms for Humanity initiative. However, she said the benefits to society of nuclear science and technology beyond that of electricity generation need to be more widely appreciated.

Climate change is "essentially an energy challenge" because more than 80% of CO2 emissions come from the energy sector, but governments must not make the mistake of thinking that energy is a bad thing, Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency said yesterday at the Foreign Policy Virtual Climate Summit. Instead, policymakers should be looking for ways to incentivise investment in clean energy technologies and not exclude any of them.

Innovation and energy have long been intertwined, and with recent advancements in clean technologies, there is an abundance of momentum towards a greener future, writes Steve Threlfall, general manager of U-Battery.

President Joe Biden's pledge for the USA to cut its CO2 emissions by 50-52% below 2005 levels by the end of this decade will be "virtually impossible" without nuclear power, Fareed Zakaria, the host of US network CNN's Global Public Square programme, said last week. America is "going in the wrong direction" in reducing the contribution nuclear power makes to its electricity supply, said Zakaria, who is also a Washington Post columnist.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has unanimously voted to extend the zero emission certificates for the Hope Creek and Salem nuclear power plants for an additional three years.

EDF Group and Rosatom have signed an agreement to jointly promote clean hydrogen projects in Russia and Europe. Rosatom said development of hydrogen technologies has an important role to play in the implementation of the Paris Agreement, aimed at keeping the global average temperature increase to below 2 degrees Celsius by 2100.

"The return of someone who denies facts, denies truth, denies evidence, denies science" will not be able to reverse the USA's commitment to addressing climate change, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry said today at the Foreign Policy Virtual Climate Summit. Kerry was interviewed by Foreign Policy Editor-in-Chief Ravi Agrawal, who said many leaders around the world were concerned that the return to office of Donald Trump - or 'Trumpism' - could mean Washington would once again pull out of the Paris Agreement.

Finance must be mobilised at "an absolutely unprecedented level" if a net-zero economy is to be created as rapidly as required, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry said at the Leaders Summit on Climate last week. The magnitude of this challenge means that governments alone "cannot possibly" find all the necessary investment, he added.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday called on heads of state to put their political differences to one side and make a collective effort to tackle global warming. Blinken moderated the first session of the Leaders Summit on Climate, which included Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.