Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons This is a Decolonization Issue

Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW)

To go into depth, please visit the UN site https://disarmament.unoda.org/wmd/nuclear/tpnw/ and learn more about the treaty, its history, and its statute. 

The States Parties to this Treaty, Determined to contribute to the realization of the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,

Deeply concerned about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences that would result from any use of nuclear weapons, and recognizing the consequent need to completely eliminate such weapons, which remains the only way to guarantee that nuclear weapons are never used again under any circumstances,

Mindful of the risks posed by the continued existence of nuclear weapons, including from any nuclear-weapon detonation by accident, miscalculation or design, and emphasizing that these risks concern the security of all humanity, and that all States share the responsibility to prevent any use of nuclear weapons,

The TPNW or Ban Treaty

1. Prohibits nations from developing, testing, producing, manufacturing, transferring, possessing, stockpiling, using or threatening to use nuclear weapons, or allowing nuclear weapons to be stationed on their territory. It also prohibits them from assisting, encouraging or inducing anyone to engage in any of these activities.

2. A nation that possesses nuclear weapons may join the treaty, so long as it agrees to destroy them in accordance with a legally binding, time-bound plan.

3. Nations are obliged to provide assistance to all victims of the use and testing of nuclear weapons and to take measures for the remediation of contaminated environments. The preamble acknowledges the harm suffered as a result of nuclear weapons, including the disproportionate impact on women and girls, and on indigenous peoples around the world.

Article 1

Prohibitions

Each State Party undertakes never under any circumstances to:

1. Develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices;
2. Transfer to any recipient whatsoever nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices or control over such weapons or explosive devices directly or indirectly;
3. Receive the transfer of or control over nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices directly or indirectly;
4. Use or threaten to use nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices;
5. Assist, encourage or induce, in any way, anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Treaty;
6. Seek or receive any assistance, in any way, from anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Treaty;
7. Allow any stationing, installation or deployment of any nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices in its territory or at any place under its jurisdiction or control.

Article 4

Towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons

1. Each State Party that after 7 July 2017 owned, possessed or controlled nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices and eliminated its nuclear-weapon programme, including the elimination or irreversible conversion of all nuclear-weapons-related facilities, prior to the entry into force of this Treaty for it, shall cooperate with the competent international authority designated pursuant to paragraph 6 of this Article for the purpose of verifying the irreversible elimination of its nuclear-weapon programme. The competent international authority shall report to the States Parties. Such a State Party shall conclude a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency sufficient to provide credible assurance of the non-diversion of declared nuclear material from peaceful nuclear activities and of the absence of undeclared nuclear material or activities in that State Party as a whole. Negotiation of such agreement shall commence within 180 days from the entry into force of this Treaty for that State Party. The agreement shall enter into force no later than 18 months from the entry into force of this Treaty for that State Party. That State Party shall thereafter, at a minimum, maintain these safeguards obligations, without prejudice to any additional relevant instruments that it may adopt in the future.
2. Notwithstanding Article 1 (a), each State Party that owns, possesses or controls nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices shall immediately remove them from operational status, and destroy them as soon as possible but not later than a deadline to be determined by the first meeting of States Parties, in accordance with a legally binding, time-bound plan for the verified and irreversible elimination of that State Party’s nuclear-weapon programme, including the elimination or irreversible conversion of all nuclear-weapons-related facilities. The State Party, no later than 60 days after the entry into force of this Treaty for that State Party, shall submit this plan to the States Parties or to a competent international authority designated by the States Parties. The plan shall then be negotiated with the competent international authority, which shall submit it to the subsequent meeting of States Parties or review conference, whichever comes first, for approval in accordance with its rules of procedure.
3. A State Party to which paragraph 2 above applies shall conclude a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency sufficient to provide credible assurance of the non-diversion of declared nuclear material from peaceful nuclear activities and of the absence of undeclared nuclear material or activities in the State as a whole. Negotiation of such agreement shall commence no later than the date upon which implementation of the plan referred to in paragraph 2 is completed. The agreement shall enter into force no later than 18 months after the date of initiation of negotiations. That State Party shall thereafter, at a minimum, maintain these safeguards obligations, without prejudice to any additional relevant instruments that it may adopt in the future. Following the entry into force of the agreement referred to in this paragraph, the State Party shall submit to the Secretary-General of the United Nations a final declaration that it has fulfilled its obligations under this Article.
4. Notwithstanding Article 1 (b) and (g), each State Party that has any nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices in its territory or in any place under its jurisdiction or control that are owned, possessed or controlled by another State shall ensure the prompt removal of such weapons, as soon as possible but not later than a deadline to be determined by the first meeting of States Parties. Upon the removal of such weapons or other explosive devices, that State Party shall submit to the Secretary-General of the United Nations a declaration that it has fulfilled its obligations under this Article.
5. Each State Party to which this Article applies shall submit a report to each meeting of States Parties and each review conference on the progress made towards the implementation of its obligations under this Article, until such time as they are fulfilled.
6. The States Parties shall designate a competent international authority or authorities to negotiate and verify the irreversible elimination of nuclear-weapons programmes, including the elimination or irreversible conversion of all nuclear-weapons-related facilities in accordance with paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article. In the event that such a designation has not been made prior to the entry into force of this Treaty for a State Party to which paragraph 1 or 2 of this Article applies, the Secretary-General of the United Nations shall convene an extraordinary meeting of States Parties to take any decisions that may be required.

Signature/ratification status of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons opened for signature at the United Nations in New York on 20 September 2017 and entered into force on 22 January 2021.

There are currently 94 signatories and 73 states parties.

2018 & 2022 US Nuclear Posture Review

The United States maintains an arsenal of about 1,650 strategic nuclear warheads deployed on Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs), and Strategic Bombers and some 180 tactical nuclear weapons at bomber bases in five European countries.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) published a major report in October 2017 that estimates the nuclear weapons spending plans President Donald Trump inherited from his predecessor will cost taxpayers $1.2 trillion in inflation-adjusted dollars between fiscal years 2017 and 2046.

This amounts to about 6 percent of all spending on national defense anticipated for that period, as of President Barack Obama’s final budget request to Congress in February 2016. When the effects of inflation are included, the 30-year cost would approach $1.7 trillion, according to a projection by the Arms Control Association.

Estimated Costs for Nuclear Triad Modernization

Investments in nukes

Who's Investing?

Important progress being made right here, in Cambridge!

India and Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons

Recent news:

Both India and Pakistan launched airstrikes over the Line of Control -- the de facto border that separates the two countries in disputed Kashmir -- in the first such incursion since 1971.

An Indian jet was shot down in the dogfight and its pilot held in Pakistan custody for several days before Islamabad released him back to New Delhi on Friday.

The immediate trigger for the latest confrontation was a suicide car bomb attack on February 14 in Indian-controlled Kashmir, which killed 40 Indian paramilitary soldiers.

India blamed the terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed for the attack, the deadliest on security forces since the beginning of the insurgency in the late 1980s.

India: 130-140 Nuclear Weapons

Situation: India has a policy of retaliation only- will respond with punitive retaliation should deterrence fail

Pakistan: 140-145 Nuclear Weapons

Problem: National Command Authority is dominated by military, limited oversight by civilians.

Source: Federation of American Scientists

You may think that’s a small amount of nuclear weapons, but let’s think about the consequences of a limited nuclear war!!

1. Even in a limited proxy war with less than 100 nuclear weapons, the war would disrupt the global climate and agriculture production
2. Smoke in the atmosphere would heat the upper atmosphere, no more ozone increased ultraviolet radiation reaching the ground
3. Famine

What Happens to Our Food Supply

1. More than 2 billion world wide would be threatened
2. More than a billion additional people would face malnourishment
3. Chinese winter wheat production would fall 50% in the first year, and average for the next decade would be 31% below the baseline
4. Corn production would decline by an average of 10%, most severe decline (20%) in year 5
5. Soybean would decline by 7% with most severe loss more than 20% in year 5
6. Decline in the middle season rice production: first 4 years: rice production decline by 21 percent, over the next 6 years, the decline would average 10%
7. Global Commodity Prices would rise

Source: “Nuclear Famine” by the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

Doomsday Clock

This year, the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists leaves the hands of the Doomsday Clock unchanged due to ominous trends that continue to point the world toward global catastrophe.

The Doomsday Clock was reset at 90 seconds to midnight, still the closest the Clock has ever been to midnight, reflecting the continued state of unprecedented danger the world faces. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, stewards of the Doomsday Clock, emphasized in their announcement that the Clock could be turned back, but governments and people needed to take urgent action.

The clock, created by the journal in 1947, is a metaphor for how close mankind is to destroying the Earth.

It is now the closest to the apocalypse it has been since 1953.

That was the year when the US and the Soviet Union tested hydrogen bombs.

Read the full statement here.

What was behind the decision?

Today, we once again set the Doomsday Clock at 90 seconds to midnight because humanity continues to face an unprecedented level of danger. Our decision should not be taken as a sign that the international security situation has eased. Instead, leaders and citizens around the world should take this statement as a stark warning and respond urgently, as if today were the most dangerous moment in modern history. Because it may well be.

But the world can be made safer. The Clock can move away from midnight. As we wrote last year, “In this time of unprecedented global danger, concerted action is required, and every second counts.” That is just as true today

Ominous trends continue to point the world toward global catastrophe. The war in Ukraine and the widespread and growing reliance on nuclear weapons increase the risk of nuclear escalation. China, Russia, and the United States are all spending huge sums to expand or modernize their nuclear arsenals, adding to the ever-present danger of nuclear war through mistake or miscalculation.

In 2023, Earth experienced its hottest year on record, and massive floods, wildfires, and other climate-related disasters affected millions of people around the world. Meanwhile, rapid and worrisome developments in the life sciences and other disruptive technologies accelerated, while governments made only feeble efforts to control them.

How does the threat compare to previous years?

When it was created in 1947, the clock's hand stood at seven minutes to midnight. Since then it has changed more than 20 times, ranging from two minutes to midnight to 17 minutes before midnight in 1991.

But during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis - considered by many analysts to be the closest the Cold War face-off between the US and the USSR came to escalating into a nuclear war - the Doomsday Clock stood still at seven minutes to midnight.

The BAS says: "The answers to this seeming anomaly are that the Doomsday Clock captures trends and takes into account the capacity of leaders and societies to respond to crises with reasoned actions to prevent nuclear holocaust.

"The Cuban Missile Crisis, for all its potential and ultimate destruction, only lasted a few weeks; however, the lessons were quickly apparent when the United States and the Soviet Union installed the first hotline between the two capitals to improve communications, and, of course, negotiated the 1963 test ban treaty, ending all atmospheric nuclear testing."

In fact, the Doomsday Clock was moved back to 12 minutes to midnight in 1963.

How to turn back the Clock

Everyone on Earth has an interest in reducing the likelihood of global catastrophe from nuclear weapons, climate change, advances in the life sciences, disruptive technologies, and the widespread corruption of the world’s information ecosystem. These threats, singularly and as they interact, are of such a character and magnitude that no one nation or leader can bring them under control. That is the task of leaders and nations working together in the shared belief that common threats demand common action. As the first step, and despite their profound disagreements, three of the world’s leading powers—the United States, China, and Russia—should commence serious dialogue about each of the global threats outlined here. At the highest levels, these three countries need to take responsibility for the existential danger the world now faces. They have the capacity to pull the world back from the brink of catastrophe. They should do so, with clarity and courage, and without delay.

It’s 90 seconds to midnight.

"The Bomb and Us"

by Anne Sandstrom

As I write this, a nuclear ban treaty is within reach. And yet, the optimism I should be feeling is tempered by the knowledge of the people, lands, waters, cultural traditions, and innocence that have been lost to the scourge of nuclear weapons.

On Sunday afternoon, June 18, during an ICAN strategy and planning meeting, many voiced opinions on various aspects of the ban treaty. There was much discussion about the victims of nuclear testing, with Roland Oldham (President of Moruroa e Tatou) offering the perspective of the inhabitants of French Polynesia. At the conclusion of the meeting, Roland offered the booklet “Moruroa La Bombe et Nous” to anyone interested. He seemed apologetic as he admitted that it was available only in French.

Thus began my virtual journey to French Polynesia. Rather than being the idyllic sojourn one might envision, the following days were spent carefully translating the booklet from French to English. The story unfolded slowly, word by word, in all of its humility and horror. This is a tale told simply, without the breathless hyperbole so common in all sorts of media today. Painstakingly illustrated with historic photos, it is told by Polynesians for fellow Polynesians, meant to educate young people about what happened to their recent ancestors. But it is one we must all hear.

The booklet’s description reads “From 1966 to 1996, France detonated 193 bombs at Moruroa and Fangataufa. During those 30 years, the lives of Polynesians have been completely upended. Young people are ill informed about what actually happened at Moruroa and about the changes to the daily lives of their parents caused by the testing by the CEP [Pacific Test Center]. With some essential facts, individual stories, photos and illustrations, this brochure, geared toward young readers, will let them learn about this important but forgotten time that is actually so recent.”

The absolute and permanent damage inflicted by the barbaric testing undertaken by the French government, centering on the atolls of Moruroa and Fangataufa, is presented with a gentle stoicism that is in itself shocking in its honesty.

It is in that spirit that I hope this document endures, reminding anyone who reads it of the interminable impact these weapons have had on the area of French Polynesia. And, by extension, on all of us.

The Appeal that Helped Our Treaty Pass

Hibakusha Appeal

Join the Hibakusha Appeal: I vote with the survivors of the atomic bombings and nuclear testing for a world free of nuclear weapons

We, the Hibakusha, call on all State Governments to conclude a treaty to ban and eliminate nuclear weapons. The average age of the Hibakusha now exceeds 80. It is our strong desire to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world in our lifetime so that succeeding generations of people will not see hell on earth every again.

You, your families and relatives, or any other people should not be made Hibakusha again. We believe that your signatures appended to this appeal will add up to the voices of hundreds of millions of people around the world and move international politics. They will finally save the future of our blue planet and all life on it. We earnestly appeal to you to append your signature to this petition.

“So that the people from future generations will not have to experience hell on earth, we want to realize a world free of nuclear weapons while we are still alive.”

Join your voice with those of the Hibakusha to say “Never Again.”

Sign the petition for a new treaty to ban nuclear weapons below.

Hibakusha Earnestly Desire Elimination of Nuclear Weapons

At present, humanity stands at the crossroads of whether to save our blue planet with all living things on it as it is or to go along the road of self-destruction.

The two atomic bombs dropped on August 6th and 9th 1945 by the US forces totally destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in an instant and killed and wounded hundreds of thousands of people without discrimination. With corpses charred black, bodies with their skins peeled off and with lines of people tottering in silence, a hell on earth emerged. Those who narrowly survived soon collapsed one after another. For more than 70 years since then, we have struggled to live on, afflicted by the delayed effects and by anxiety about the possible effects of radiation on our children and grandchildren. Never again do we want such tragedies to be repeated.

After 11 years of silence following the A-bomb suffering, Hibakusha assembled in Nagasaki in August 1956 and founded Nihon Hidankyo, the Japan Confederation of A-and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations. There we pledged that we would work to "save humanity from its crisis through the lessons learned from our experiences, while at the same time saving ourselves".

Since then we have continued appealing to the world that "there should never be another Hibakusha." This is the cry of our soul. Wars and conflicts are still going on in the world, and many lives of innocent people are lost. Nuclear weapons are being used to threaten others. There are also moves to develop new nuclear weapons. The destructive power of existing nuclear weapons, which number well over 10 thousand, amounts to that of tens of thousands of Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs combined. Nuclear weapons are the "weapons of the devil". They could wipe out the human race and all other creatures. They could destroy the environment and turn the globe into a dead planet.

Human beings have prohibited the use, development, production, and possession of biological and chemical weapons by treaties and protocols. Why do we hesitate to prohibit nuclear weapons, which are far more destructive than these weapons?

We, the Hibakusha, call on all State Governments to conclude a treaty to ban and eliminate nuclear weapons. The average age of the Hibakusha now exceeds 80. It is our strong ' desire to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world in our lifetime so that succeeding generations of people will not see hell on earth ever again.

You, your families and relatives, or any other people should not be made Hibakusha again. We believe that your signatures appended to this appeal will add up to the voices of hundreds of millions of people around the world and move international politics. They will finally save the future of our blue planet and all life on it. We earnestly appeal to you to append your signature to this petition.

April 2016

Initial Proposers of the Appeal:

Sunao Tsuboi, Sumiteru Taniguchi and Mikiso Iwasa, Co-Chairpersons, Hidankyo (Japan Confederation of A-and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations)

Terumi Tanaka, Secretary General, Hidankyo

Kwak Kwi Hoon, Honorary Chairman, Korean Association of Atomic Bomb Victims

Tsukasa Mukai, President, US Association of Atomic Bomb Victims

Takashi Morita, President, Associacao Hibakusha Brasil Pela Paz

Setsuko Thurlow, Hibakusha of Hiroshima, Toronto,Canada

Yasuaki Yamashita, Hibakusha of Nagasaki, Mexico City, Mexico

International Signature Campaign in Support of the Appeal of the Hibakusha for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons

Earnestly desiring the elimination of nuclear weapons without delay, we, the Hibakusha, call on all State Governments to conclude a treaty to ban and eliminate nuclear weapons.

I, the undersigned, hereby support the Appeal of the Hibakusha.

NOTE: After the launch of the International Signature Campaign in April 2016, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted on July 7, 2017. This Campaign now calls on all State Governments to join the Treaty and achieve the total elimination of nuclear weapons.

The above information concerns the treaty and its history.

When we meet online, we will discuss what we will do at the UN during the TPNW Conference, March 3-5, 2025.