Nuclear Fusion: A Carbon-Free Energy Source

Dr Zafar Nawaz Jaspal

THE Conference of the Parties (COP) 30 reconfirmed the Trump administration’s opposition to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Simultaneously, it has exposed the limits of international efforts to prevent global warming without the United States’ dynamic involvement. The United States’ withdrawal from the UNFCCC process demoralized participants at the COP30 summit held in Brazil. Though the number was remarkable, the summit’s outcome was disappointing. Representatives from 194 countries avoided including the term “fossil fuels” in the final agreement. They refrained from bluntly reaffirming that fossil fuels should be phased out of the energy mix. The outcome of COP 30 has drawn attention towards a serious puzzle about the efficacy of climate diplomacy.

The COP 30 took place at a time when the Trump administration announced a plan to open 1.3 billion acres of coastal waters to new oil and gas drilling. The White House Spokeswoman said, “He (President Trump) will not jeopardize our country’s economic and national security to pursue vague climate goals that are killing other countries.” Instead of decreasing the usage of fossil fuels, Americans are increasing their use. It is a shift from the Biden administration’s commitment made in COP28.

Notably, at COP28 held from November 30 to December 12, 2023, at Expo City, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the representatives agreed to a landmark deal to start transitioning away from fossil fuels—oil, gas, and coal. Fossil fuels were specifically mentioned in a UNFCCC COP 28 decision. The participants agreed to “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a just, orderly and equitable manner.” The participants agreed to triple renewables and double energy efficiency by 2030 and plan to halt deforestation by 2030. While promising to speed up processes to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times, it was announced that the global nuclear industry would triple nuclear energy by 2050.

Nuclear energy is acknowledged as an essential source of clean energy. Therefore, the increase in nuclear energy use will effectively cut carbon emissions to near zero in the coming decades. However, nuclear energy has various serious risks, such as an increase in the likelihood of the horizontal proliferation of nuclear weapons, nuclear and radiological terrorism and nuclear power plant accidents. Therefore, the significant scientific and engineering challenges must be addressed before tripling nuclear energy use.

The U.S. climate envoy, John Kerry, said on December 5, 2023, that the Biden administration would work with other governments to accelerate efforts to make nuclear fusion a new carbon-free energy source. The benefits of fusion energy are colossal: it produces 4 million times more energy than fossil fuels without releasing harmful gases. Scientists opine that ‘nuclear fusion melds two hydrogen atoms together to produce a helium atom and a lot of energy.’ It would be a clean energy source to power cars, heat/cool homes and other things instead of fossil fuels. It means no CO2or other harmful atmospheric emissions from the fusion process. Moreover, the process produces very little waste that is much less radioactive than that from a conventional nuclear power plant. Hence, the fusion does not contribute to greenhouse gas emissions or global warming.

The advocates of fusion technology opine that fusion reactors will not melt down like the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster and the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi four-reactor disaster. The fusion reactor operates differently from a fission reactor and there’s no risk of meltdowns like those at Chernobyl and Fukushima. Hence, fusion reactors are considered inherently safe against sabotage and accidents. However, a fusion reactor prototype is expected to be built by 2040. Besides, the foolproof apparatus to prevent the use of civilian nuclear fusion technology and materials for the manufacture of fusion weapons is missing.

Pakistan has been striving to mitigate the repercussions of climate change because it is “facing the headwinds of climate-induced disasters.” Last week, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, speaking at the Peace and Trust forum in Turkmenistan, said that Pakistan had demonstrated its commitment to cleaner, greener solutions. He added we were “transforming our landscape and setting a global example in ecosystem restoration.”

Pakistan has struggled to increase nuclear power’s share in its energy mix policy despite the Nuclear Suppliers Group’s denial of its approach since 1975. It generates atomic energy through nuclear fission, i.e., a method used in power plants by which uranium atoms from a heavy, unstable nucleus are split into two or more lighter nuclei. Indeed, it is imperative that Pakistan modernize its civilian nuclear program by investing in fusion technology research and development. Climate change is not an isolated challenge. It is a transnational calamity. Therefore, the entire international community, especially the developed states, needs to work collectively to address global warming by introducing new technologies, including fusion reactors.

Disclaimer:
This article was originally published in Pakistan Observer on December 16, 2025.

The writer is a Professor at the School of Politics and IR, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad (jaspal_99@hotmail.com)