During the 2015 WiN Global General Assembly held at the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna on 25th August 2015, almost 500 WiN members from 65 countries gathered.

Scientists, engineers, and professionals representing national, regional, and international Chapters and individual members of WiN Global signed a declaration on climate change. They are all committed to the further development and peaceful use of nuclear science technologies, and acknowledge the crucial role of nuclear energy in preserving the earth for future generations.

This declaration is a contribution by professional women to the 'Nuclear for Climate' global initiative, launched in 2014 to raise awareness among decision-makers and the general public of the undeniable climate change benefits of nuclear energy. The initiative was initially launched through the French Nuclear Society, the European Nuclear Society and the American Nuclear Society.

WiN will bring this declaration to the attention of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Conference that will take place in Paris in December 2015. WiN Chapters are kindly requested to jointly sign this declaration as a Chapter initiative.

The declaration text is as follows:

WE THE UNDERSIGNED,

Scientists, engineers, and professionals representing national, regional, and international Chapters and individual members of the Women in Nuclear Global network committed to the further development and peaceful use of nuclear science technologies, and acknowledging the crucial role women play in preserving our Earth for future generations;

GATHERED here today at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna on the occasion of the 2015 WiN Global Annual Conference

ACKNOWLEDGE the unequivocal conclusions reached by the majority of climatologists, as stated in the peer reviewed Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovenmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), that “human activities have contributed to changes in the Earth’s climate;”

ACCEPT the fact that, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), electricity demand is currently predicted to double by 2050, while the global population is expected to reach about 10 billion with increasing trends;

SHARE the objective of limiting global warming to a maximum of 2°C by 2050, which will require, according to IPCC, 80% of electricity to come from all available low-carbon technologies by that time;

CALL FOR immediate steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that include nuclear energy as an option, a view shared by the IPCC and OECD as well as national and international organisations and non- governmental organisations (NGOs).

Members of WiN Global hereby declare that

WE STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT NUCLEAR ENERGY IS A KEY PART OF THE SOLUTION IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE

Thus

ASSERT that each country have access to the widest possible portfolio of low-carbon technologies available, including nuclear energy, in order to reduce CO2-emissions and meet energy goals;

ASK that the new United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Protocols recognise nuclear energy as a low-carbon energy option, and include it in its climate funding mechanisms, as is the case for all other low-carbon energy sources; and

Have DECIDED to jointly sign this declaration and bring it to the attention of the Climate Change Conference that will take place in Paris in December 2015.