False Solutions and Feminist Climate Justice: Why Nuclear Power Cannot Deliver a Just Transition

The WGC advocates for a feminist approach to climate justice that places human rights, gender equality, care, participation and ecological integrity at the centre. This means recognising that the climate emergency is rooted in economic models that treat people, ecosystems and natural resources as commodities to be exploited. A just transition is therefore not simply about replacing one energy source with another, but about transforming the systems that perpetuate exploitation and inequality. Moving beyond fossil fuels must not reproduce extractivism, environmental degradation, discrimination or unequal access to resources and decision-making. Climate action must instead advance more equitable societies, respect planetary boundaries and challenge colonial patterns of development.

Nuclear power is increasingly presented as a climate solution that can support the transition away from fossil fuels. However, claims that nuclear power is a low-carbon climate solution remain contested. Assessing its climate impacts requires considering the entire nuclear chain, including uranium mining, processing, enrichment, reactor construction, operation, decommissioning, and radioactive waste management, rather than focusing solely on emissions during electricity generation.

This paper assesses nuclear power against these principles of feminist climate justice. It argues that nuclear power perpetuates extractive development, diverts resources from people-centred climate solutions, exposes people and ecosystems to risks from radioactivity across its lifecycle, creates long-term burdens for future generations and reinforces militarised systems. Measured against the principles of a just transition, nuclear power is a false climate solution.

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