(Bloomberg) -- Citadel’s billionaire founder Ken Griffin called for western nations to step up investment in nuclear power as a way to decarbonize the world.

“China is one of the few countries making a huge investment in nuclear again,” Griffin said at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore on Thursday. “We desperately need nuclear power in the West.”

The development of cost-effective atomic technology will be needed for a cleaner world, he added. 

Even though countries across Europe and Asia are again exploring nuclear technology to hit green goals and boost energy security, the world is not building enough reactors to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Trade tension between the US and China threatens a green future. Beijing chafes at trade controls that it says target green energy gear needed to accelerate the transition, including US tariffs on solar panels.

Griffin said it’s hard to sever relations with China. “Do you think we really come out ahead?” he said. “China leads in EVs, China leads in solar.”

(Updates with comments on trade in last two paragraphs.)

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.