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Gavan McFadzean: “Promoting Nuclear Energy Slows the Transition to Clean Energy”
November 11, 2026
In the COP31 Climate Special Broadcast, Waseem Ahmad Siddiqui speaks with Gavan McFadzean of the Australian Conservation Foundation about Australia’s transition to renewable energy, the anti-nuclear movement, and the renewed push for nuclear energy in response to the growing energy demands of artificial intelligence and data centres.
Waseem Ahmad Siddiqui: We are now with Gavan McFadzean from the Australian Conservation Foundation. He was here to participate in the “No Nukes” demonstration. I'm going to ask him about the purpose and demands of this protest.
Gavan, as someone from Australia, could you tell us about the purpose and demands of this demonstration? I was listening very carefully to the issues you were raising here.
Gavan McFadzean: I came here to this demonstration to tell Australia's story, which I think is an important one because Australia is leading the negotiations at this year's COP.
Australia has traditionally been very reliant on fossil fuels for its energy needs. However, since the early 2000s, the country has been transitioning towards cleaner energy sources. That transition really accelerated with the election of the Albanese Labor government in 2022, which is still in power today.
Australia has undergone one of the world's fastest domestic energy transitions, moving away from coal and gas and towards renewable energy.
Last year, we held our national elections in May 2025. Australians faced a choice between a government that wanted to continue along the clean energy path and accelerate the development of renewables in Australia's energy system, and an opposition that wanted more coal and gas, sought to slow the expansion of renewable energy, and proposed building six new nuclear reactors at a cost of $600 billion to taxpayers.
Australians had a very clear choice in that election about the future they wanted to see. It was effectively a referendum on Australia's future energy needs, and Australians overwhelmingly chose the renewable energy path.
The government promoting renewable energy won its biggest election victory since the Second World War. The opposition was decisively defeated after campaigning for nuclear energy.
Australians overwhelmingly rejected nuclear energy and the continued expansion of fossil fuels, instead supporting the continuation of a rapid transition towards renewable energy. We think that's an important story to tell.
Now, supporters of nuclear energy have adopted a new strategy: promoting the construction of small modular reactors to supply the energy needs of Australia's booming data centre and artificial intelligence sectors.
Nuclear energy is now being promoted as the solution to those growing energy demands. However, we know that the International Energy Agency has reported that, since 2022, two-thirds of the energy needs of data centres have been supplied by renewable energy, compared with only 6% by nuclear energy.
What we're seeing around the world is that the promotion of nuclear energy is really a campaign to slow the development of clean energy and keep coal and gas in energy systems for longer.
I came to this demonstration to share Australia's experience because I believe it's an experience the rest of the world can learn from.
W.A.S.: Yeah, yeah. More power to you! Gavan McFadzean, Australian Conservation Foundation. Thank you so much.
G.M.: Thank you so much.
Who is Gavan McFadzean? Gavan McFadzean is an Australian environmental and climate activist and the Climate and Energy Program Manager at the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF). For nearly 30 years, he has campaigned on climate change, nature conservation, the phase-out of fossil fuels, and renewable energy. He has represented the Australian environmental movement in international climate negotiations and participated in campaigns opposing nuclear energy.
