Ia Aanstoot, Swedish Youth Nuclear Activist, July ‘24
Ia Aanstoot, Swedish Youth Nuclear Activist
Ia Aanstoot, a 19 year old climate activist that has attended 2 COPs and is helping lead a campaign against Greenpeace for their anti-nuclear stance.
Meet Ia Aanstoot, the Young Swede Demanding Climate Action and Fighting Green Hypocrisy
Ia Aanstoot embarked on a journey towards environmental activism, at just 13, inspired by like minded youth across the world demanding climate action and envisioning a cleaner future for future generations. It was at this time, in August, 2018 that Greta Thunberg stopped attending school, vowing not to return until the Swedish government took action on climate change.
Aanstoot participated in Thunberg’s “School Strikes for Climate”, missing about 50 days of school because she felt that the government was not considering the dangers of climate change.
At 16, Aanstoot joined the budding pro-nuclear movement, inspired by what she viewed as concrete solutions to climate issues.
Part of Aanstoot’s perspective is shaped by her story. She was born prematurely - six months into the pregnancy rather than nine - and depended on a modern healthcare system to stay alive.The system in Sweden that saved her life runs on abundant nuclear energy- the 6 reactors provide 40% of the country’s electricity. Because of this, Aanstoot said she opposes environmental arguments for subsistence farming and using less energy.
“Without the privilege of modern technology, I would not be alive today makes it quite hard to be against said modern technology,” Aanstoot said. “Modern technology is, by its nature, very energy and electricity intensive. And that is something that nuclear is very good at providing, while remaining good for the planet.”
While Aanstoot said she admired the work that Greta Thurnburg accomplished in bringing climate change to the international agenda, she thinks the focus now must be in pursuing concrete solutions to climate change. Aanstoot, who has said multiple times she is desperate to see change for the sake of her generation, said the feeling stem from a belief that more needs to be done.
Aanstoot officially started nuclear advocacy when she volunteered for non-profit Generation Atomic in 2022. In 2023, she joined WePlanet as a youth coordinator.
Aanstoot is the face of WePlanet’s “Dear Greenpeace” Campaign. The campaign seeks to protect nuclear energy in the European Union, in the face of a legal challenge on behalf of Greenpeace; Greenpeace sued the EU for including nuclear energy in the green taxonomy - The taxonomy governs green financing by directing investments to economic activities and projects that are in line with a European green transition. Projects defined as green can receive support.
When Aanstoot discovered that one of the most powerful and iconic environmental groups in the world held such regressive beliefs on nuclear energy, she was shocked and disappointed. She considered it a blow to climate efforts everywhere.
WePlanet youth activists participating in Aanstoot’s campaign for nuclear energy in the EU green taxonomy, called “Dear Greenpeace".
“(I was like) what the fuck is Greenpeace doing? Like, they are such a large and powerful environmental organization,” Aanstoot said. “And the fact that they would take this quite unscientific position is, I think, really harmful to the environmental movement as a whole. it's just it's very disappointing to see.”
Aanstoot’s petition for Greenpeace to drop their lawsuit has nearly 11,000 signatures. An even greater victory, Aanstoot said, would be if the organization dropped their opposition to nuclear energy entirely.
On top of the campaign, WePlanet asked Aanstoot to help start an international youth movement supportive of nuclear energy. Aanstoot said she enjoys working with the other young activists and appreciates the different perspectives from around the world. She added that the international composition helps foster a greater knowledge of the various different challenges different communities face in the climate struggle.
In addition to her campaign, Aanstoot said she is proud to have attended COP 27 in Egypt and COP 28 in Dubai. She said she received fresh insight into how global politics works.
Among Aanstoot’s greatest accomplishments came at COP 27, when she read a draft document of a UN Implementation Plan on Climate. Aanstoot, who was working as a volunteer for Nuclear for Climate, noticed the language in the draft document only mentioned renewables. With the help of fellow nuclear advocate Seth Grae, Aanstoon successfully helped change the official language of the Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan, a global climate pact, to include nuclear energy (in the clean energy umbrella term).
The pact “stresses the importance of enhancing a clean energy mix, including low-emission and renewable energy, at all levels as part of diversifying energy mixes and systems.”
Aanstoot said she appreciated the special opportunities offered at events like COP, focused on international climate action.
“This is where climate policy is being made. This is where the NGOs are meeting with each other,” Aanstoot said. This is where private sector and the public has to get together. And it's really this force forward.”
Aanstoot at COP 27 with Daniel Westlén, the Swedish State Secretary to Minister of Climate and the Environment.
At COP 28, Aanstoot attended the launch announcement pleading to triple nuclear capacity by 2050, mingling with lots of world leaders and met with the Swedish Energy Minister Ebba Busch who congratulated her on her nuclear activism.
Joining the pro-nuclear movement gave Aanstoot hope.
“Like many other climate activists, I was quite pessimistic. But it (nuclear) did really give me a lot of hope about the future and like the potential of humanity to manage climate change,” Aanstoot said. “It's a very diverse movement. And it's a very global movement. And it has so many different political views. And it's just, it really feels like it's all of humanity coming together to work on one thing, and that feels really good. And it makes me really optimistic for the future.”
Considering why the pro-nuclear movement has largely been driven by youth, Aanstoot said that youth have the time and energy for activism. She also said there is a feeling that the issue feels more personal to the younger generations as they face the specter of climate change’s effects.
Successfully launching WePlanet’s Youth campaign is one of Aanstoot’s major current goals, and she is considering applying to university.
In terms of Sweden, Aanstoot views the country as a climate leader, with impressive hydro and nuclear. The current government is invested in expanding the current nuclear fleet. In 2023, the government said it wants 2 new reactors by 2035, and a “massive expansion” by 2045. Utility Vattenfall has conducted studies into potential nuclear sites, and plans to build reactors in the 2030s.
For Aanstoot, nuclear energy offers a future where generations to come can enjoy a modern standard of living without destroying the planet. She firmly believes that human suffering cannot be tolerated as a means to solve the climate crisis. As she put it, “we are solving the climate crisis for the sake of humanity and not for the planet.”
“That is what makes the difference between someone that is willing to say ‘I would let children in Africa starve to solve the climate crisis.’”, Aanstoot said. There is a reason we are solving the climate crisis. And for me, that is for humanity.”
Ermakova’s advocacy is not confined to California. Her work, as the Nuclear Communications and Outreach Consultant for the Anthropocene Institute has taken her to the last three COP’s (27, 28, 29). Over the last three years, she has seen a shift, with greater recognition of nuclear’s environmental importance.
“(COP 28) in UAE sent a strong message that nuclear can be an investment project, and this is the message UAEare sharing with the world,” Ermakova said. “The (UAE) is very rich, and they choose to clean up their grid as soon as possible. I think this is a good example to the rest of the world, especially the world that has resources to clean up the grid quickly, especially the United States, EU and China.”
In contrast to Dubai in 2023, where nuclear power was clearly in the discussion, at Glasgow, in 2021, it was not mentioned that the conference was powered by nuclear energy.
Ermakova appreciates the newfound support for nuclear, but the policy pledges are the easy part. Building nuclear at scale, with public support, is the real challenge. Ermakova remains firm in her conviction that nuclear energy is the key to achieving a higher standard of global living.
A shift in communication, and one that centers the needs of developing countries will be key to seeing the type of change Ermakova desires to see.
“It comes to just basic access to electricity, to medical facilities, to fridges, AC and electricity in a school,” Ermakova said. “You just don't hear those stories, because most of the communication happening is coming from the Global North and then Global South is left behind or left with the ideas forced on them.