September 16, 2019
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 In The Role of Nuclear Energy in Reducing Fossil Fuel Reliance

Topic:
Country: Guatemala
Delegate Name: Maya Neblett

Guatemala is prepared and equipped to talk about solutions towards climate change as well as using nuclear energy to do so. At this moment in time, Guatemala does not believe in using nuclear energy to end climate change for everyone because of its general danger and expense. Guatemala currently uses other sources of energy such as forestry (wood) and hydropower (hydroelectricity) to cope with the CO2 emissions, as well as sources such as wind and solar power. The main goal for Guatemala is to lower CO2 emissions by 11.2% by 2030. A big problem for Guatemala right now is the immense deforestation Guatemala is facing because of new cities and establishments. It has been a major call to action and Guatemala is ready to participate and be part of the solution. Guatemala has been a member of IEA since 1990 and had a major shift when the country stopped using petrol as much and started using sources like biofuels and wood which made their CO2 emission rates deplete drastically. Guatemala thinks that a new approach is needed to change the way our society thinks about energy and CO2 emissions along with climate change. The goal is to start thinking bigger than just oil and/or nuclear energy but in more unique and adaptive ways. For instance, Guatemala is situated near lots of water and gets lots of sun as well as has a lot its of land covered in forests, therefore Guatemala uses those unique attributes to gain energy instead of just thinking of using oil, coal, and nuclear energy. Right now there are 440 nuclear power plants in 33 countries and Guatemala acknowledges that not all countries have their (Guatemala’s) resources. Guatemala thinks that nuclear energy should be used on a case-by-case basis and not just to “solve climate change”.

For this reason, Guatemala thinks that a reasonable solution and/or resolution would be to create a set of rules and implement this set of rules through the countries in the IAEA. These rules should be on a case-by-case basis and send officials to assess or recognize how much CO2 a country makes, what its main power source is if the country has enough money to improve, and enough space to do so, and what energy source would be most suitable for that country instead of directly jumping to nuclear energy. With this information from these officials or even from a database specific rules can be made and new actions can be taken so that the UN can get to the base of the issue instead of circling around the issue by implementing time-exhausting, expensive, nuclear energy plants. The delegation of Guatemala is excited to be working on this with the IAEA segment of the UN and is ready to make a change.

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