Motion
- Motion title
- Japan - disasters of nature and of second nature
- Session
- 2010-2011
- Meeting link
- Annual Congress
- Meeting date
- 29 May 2011
- Status
- Passed
- Motion
- 28
- Motion text
Congress expresses its concern and compassion for the Japanese people.
Congress notes
1. political decisions can constitute a greater threat than natural events, notably reliance on nuclear energy with its inherent dangers
2. threats to human survival and wellbeing from such reliance are not restricted to earthquake zones
3. that this technology is fundamentally unsafe, costly, cannot mitigate against greenhouse gas emissions, produces irreversible effects on the environment condemning our descendents for generations to come and is of no long term benefit to humankind
4. risk-avoidance presumes effective prediction but 'accidents' arise from radical unpredictability
5. however small a statistical risk, it can be outweighed by the size of the consequences
6. in the case of nuclear meltdown, evaluations depend on the valuation of lives lost, shortened or damaged
7. the social and economic viability of nuclear energy is dependent on heavy subsidy, and its comparative cost in terms of human life is unproved
8. dependence on nuclear energy also has the associated security risks that impair civil liberties and potentially compromise democracy.
Congress reaffirms its opposition to nuclear power in the UK and elsewhere, and resolves to play a major role in campaigning against it.
Congress calls on the government to phase out the British nuclear programme and to redirect funds into the research and development of renewable technologies coordinated via a central laboratory. Such a project would stimulate the research base of our universities and enable Britain to become world leading in these vital technologies of the future.
- Proposing body
- Composite
- Amended
- No
- Allocated to
- Other
- Notes
Administrative info
- Listing reference
- 2011/C/05-29/123/28