The debate around nuclear is a dangerous distraction from what we need to deliver climate action in Australia today: move rapidly to 100% renewable energy.
Since Greenpeace first began, we have always fought – and will continue to fight – vigorously against nuclear reactors and weapons, because nuclear is an unacceptable risk to our environment, our oceans and to humanity.
The fight against nuclear is part of Greenpeace’s DNA. In 1971, a small group of activists set sail to the Amchitka island off Alaska to try and stop a US nuclear weapons test. The money for the mission was raised with a concert, their old fishing boat was called “The Greenpeace”. Five months after the group’s mission, this early campaign against the dangers of nuclear was a success – the United States stopped the entire Amchitka nuclear test programme.
Since those early days, Greenpeace has long campaigned against nuclear disarmament, spoken out against the historical atrocities committed in the Pacific around nuclear testing and responded to some of the most horrifying legacies of nuclear disaster. Events like Chernobyl and Fukushima are enduring reminders of the horrific consequences of the risks inherent in building nuclear reactors.
This week, the fight against nuclear has come into focus here in Australia. Many Australians would have seen Dutton’s nuclear fantasy splashed across newspapers. It is a fantasy because it is uncosted, state Premiers have ruled it out and not a single Australian community would be OK with a nuclear reactor or waste dump being built in their back yard.
There are countless reasons why nuclear will not, and should not, happen in Australia.
Instead, let’s see this nuclear thought bubble for what it really is a dangerous distraction from what we need to deliver climate action in Australia today: no new fossil fuels in gas, coal and oil, and a rapid shift to 100% renewable energy.
Australians want and need credible climate action from their elected leaders, but nuclear is not the answer.
If the Federal Coalition wants to be taken seriously at the next election, they need climate policies to reduce pollution this decade. The Coalition is failing to deliver when spruiking doomed-to-fail technology like nuclear, backing in more toxic, polluting gas, and threatening to scrap renewable projects if elected.
The choices that politicians make today will determine our climate future.
As the sunniest and windiest country on earth, Australia has the opportunity to be a renewable energy superpower. We should harness this opportunity and focus on affordable, viable clean energy like wind and solar.
Greenpeace Australia Pacific will continue to challenge this dangerous, unsuitable technology. We’ll keep fighting for no new fossil fuels like Woodside’s dangerous proposed Burrup Hub disaster, and champion cleaner, safer, affordable renewable solutions that will genuinely help reduce emissions at emergency speed and scale.
Climate Change
Bowen urged to lead with vision and ambition to accelerate fossil fuel phase out at Bonn climate meeting, as global energy crisis bites
Bonn, Germany, Monday 8 June 2026 — As the UN climate negotiations in Bonn commence, Greenpeace Australia Pacific is calling on Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen to lead with vision and ambition to advance multilateral climate cooperation, and use his unique position to drive concrete progress at COP31 and ensure a meaningful partnership with the Pacific.
In the context of a global energy crisis and turbulent geopolitics, the Bonn Climate Change Conference will be a critical moment to sustain emerging political momentum towards a just transition away from fossil fuels. The midway point on the road to COP31 in Türkiye in November, Bonn will be the first time Minister Bowen has attended a major UN conference in his role as COP31 President of Negotiations.
The start of the Bonn meetings also marks 100 days since the illegal US-Israel war on Iran sparked a global energy shock and after 57 countries including Australia met in Santa Marta, Colombia in April for the world’s first conference on the transition away from fossil fuels — a landmark moment signalling political winds of change in the face of threats to multilateralism.
Speaking from Bonn, Dr Simon Bradshaw, COP31 Lead at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “Amidst a global energy crisis, accelerating climate disasters and a looming super El Niño, the urgency to accelerate climate action and break free from fossil fuel dependence has never been clearer.
“Minister Bowen has been telling Australia and the world that we are in a global ‘fossil fuel crisis’, and that unhooking from fossil fuels is fundamental both to tackling the climate crisis and to ensuring secure and affordable energy. It’s time to match that message with a clear vision and agenda for COP31 — one that has the transition away from fossil fuels at its heart.
“As COP31 President of Negotiations, Australia has both the opportunity and responsibility to build on the momentum of COP30 in Belém and the recent landmark conference in Santa Marta on transitioning away from fossil fuels. This includes leading by example at home, with an immediate halt to new fossil fuel projects — including the mammoth proposed Browse gas project — and committing to develop a national roadmap away from fossil fuel production.”
“Few countries have as much skin the game as Australia: we are a country highly vulnerable to extreme heat, fires, floods and other impacts of climate change, we are suffering the consequences of fossil fuel dependency in terms of our energy security and affordability, but we have some of the world’s best renewable energy opportunities.
“Bonn is a key moment for the incoming Presidency to start shaping the vision, building the necessary trust, and actively setting priorities and expectations for the COP. We therefore hope and expect our Minister to be much more vocal and active in Bonn.
“Australia, in partnership with the Pacific, is taking the reins of global climate cooperation at a critical moment in the world’s transition away from fossil fuels. There is no more time to lose.”
Also in Bonn, Shiva Gounden, Head of Pacific at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “Multilateral cooperation is the antidote to climate and geopolitical chaos. At Bonn, Pacific nations’ legacy of leadership from the frontlines of the climate crisis can be our guiding star as we build a more peaceful and secure world for all.
“We must build on the progress at Santa Marta and break the hold fossil fuels have on our global security and economies. Pacific nations are already facing the brunt of a global climate crisis, but now facing the compounding injustice of an energy crisis brought on by fossil fuel dependence. We did not create either of these crises, but are among the most exposed to both.
“The International Court of Justice made clear that responsibility to address the climate crisis extends beyond borders and that continuing to expand fossil fuel production, including for export, could constitute an internationally wrongful act — a ruling that has now been overwhelmingly endorsed by the UN General Assembly. Continuing down the fossil fuel path, and failing to align efforts with limiting warming to 1.5C, is a breach of our international legal obligations.
“We must not lose sight of what’s needed — by elevating the voices of Pacific leaders, backing Pacific-led solutions, and maximising the opportunity of the Pacific pre-COP, we can ensure the 1.5°C imperative and the transition away from fossil fuels are central to the agenda at COP31, and that communities are granted the finance they need to build a strong, resilient future beyond fossil fuels.”
Ahead of SB64, Greenpeace International has produced a policy briefing outlining the core elements of a just transition away from fossil fuels and the urgent, priority actions needed from national governments and through global co-operation to make it a reality.[1]
ENDS
[1] A Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels: Policy Briefing
Photos in the Greenpeace Media Library
Media contact
Kate O’Callaghan on +61 406 231 892 (Whatsapp/Signal) or kate.ocallaghan@greenpeace.org
For decades, a landfill has towered over the town of Brookhaven. A groundwater contamination plume has spread beneath nearby properties.
BROOKHAVEN, N.Y.—The crowd grew restless at Brookhaven Town Hall on Long Island as residents voiced their concerns about groundwater contamination from a nearby landfill that has spread beneath parts of their community.
Troubled by Spreading Landfill Pollution, a Long Island Community Demands Action
Groups work to identify, save and reseed areas to help the culturally significant resource thrive as climate change portends more strains.
Bazile Minogiizhigaabo Panek, a member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, was 7 years old when he attended his first rice harvest in northern Wisconsin. He and his sister rode in a canoe while his mom pushed the boat with a pole through the plants growing out of the shallow water. Together, they tapped the plants with sticks. Rice seeds rained into the canoe; others fell into the water.
Wild Rice Faces Numerous Threats—and Has Determined Protectors
Bowen urged to lead with vision and ambition to accelerate fossil fuel phase out at Bonn climate meeting, as global energy crisis bites
Court Keeps GE on Vineyard Wind, France Plans Huge Wind Farm
Troubled by Spreading Landfill Pollution, a Long Island Community Demands Action
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