In an address to the United Nations General Assembly yesterday in New York, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, highlighted the role of nuclear science and technology in sustainable development.

Illinois governor Bruce Rauner yesterday signed energy legislation that will ensure the continued operation of the Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear power plants.

Wind and solar power are transforming the electricity industry, but not fast enough to put the world on track for the UNFCCC's Paris Agreement target to hold the global temperature increase well below 2°C, according to László Varró, chief economist of the International Energy Agency. This "climate stabilisation" target needs nuclear power to play a significant role in the low-carbon power mix, Varró told delegates at the Budapest Energy Summit yesterday.

Legislators in the US state of Illinois yesterday passed a bill recognising the contribution of nuclear energy to the state's clean energy efforts and ensuring the continued operation of the state's nuclear power plants. The Future Energy Jobs Bill will also advance renewable energy and expand energy efficiency initiatives.

Agneta Rising, director-general of the World Nuclear Association, has called on Conference of the Parties to make it clear that nuclear energy will be part of their response to succeed in action on climate change. "France, Sweden, Switzerland, and Canada's province of Ontario, have all achieved more than 80% low-carbon electricity generation by using nuclear energy in harmony with renewables," Rising said yesterday at a press conference hosted by the Russian delegation to the UNFCCC COP 22 climate change conference in Marrakesh.

Legislation including steps that would help to preserve Illinois' at-risk nuclear power plants while creating jobs, strengthening the economy, and accelerating renewable energy development has been introduced in the state's General Assembly. The bill has been passed by the General Assembly’s House Energy Committee.

There will be "major transformations in the global energy system over the next decades" as government policies to combat climate change and energy efficiency measures take effect, according to the International Energy Agency. Nuclear generating capacity, it says, could more than double by 2040.

As climate talks continue in Marrakesh, thousands of local and regional leaders from across the world have called on governments at all levels to uphold and go beyond the commitments made in Paris last year, the European Committee of the Regions - the EU's assembly of local and regional representatives - said today. The 22nd Conference of the Parties began in the Moroccan city last week and ends on 18 November.

As heads of state and business leaders react to US President-elect Donald Trump's victory, the implications of the new administration for nuclear programs in the USA and overseas are still to emerge.

NuGeneration and Horizon Nuclear Power expect the strike price they agree with the UK government for their respective new build projects will be lower than the one agreed for EDF Energy's Hinkley Point C plant.

Countries planning to use nuclear power to meet their climate change goals will pool experience as part of a forthcoming research effort by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Nuclear energy can help Asian countries achieve future economic growth, energy security and environmental protection, the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ) has said in its latest global energy outlook.