Governments urged to ‘stop gambling with humanity’s future’ and eliminate nuclear weapons

This article is published in association with United Nations

World leaders, senior government officials and civil society representatives joined forces at UN Headquarters on Thursday to reaffirm commitment to nuclear disarmament as a global priority. 

The High-Level Meeting was held to commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, observed annually on 26 September. 

“There should be no place for these devices of death in our world,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.   

Nuclear ‘spectre’ looming 

He warned, however, that “not since the worst days of the Cold War has the spectre of nuclear weapons cast such a dark shadow.” 

He said that “nuclear sabre-rattling has reached a fever pitch” and there have been threats to use a nuclear weapon, highlighting fears of a new arms race.   

Meanwhile, decades-old norms established against the use, spread and testing of nuclear weapons are being eroded. 

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Secretary-General António Guterres meets with survivors of the atomic bomb attacks on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

Learn from the past 

Mr. Guterres said the first-hand experience of the hibakusha – the survivors of the atomic bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 – “stand as clear reminders of where the nuclear path ends”.

“And yet, nearly 80 years later, nuclear-weapon States continue to roll the dice, resisting disarmament measures and believing that, somehow, our luck will never run out,” he said.

 Stop gambling with our future 

He appealed for these countries to “stop gambling with humanity’s future”, starting with honouring their commitments and meeting their disarmament obligations. 

 “Until nuclear weapons are eliminated, these States should commit to never use them under any circumstances. And they must demonstrate the utmost transparency in all matters related to nuclear weapons,” he said. 

Appeal to Russia and USA 

The Secretary-General also called on Russia and the United States “to return to the process of nuclear arms reductions, with other nuclear-weapon States following in due course.” 

As “disarmament and non-proliferation are two sides of the same coin,” countries must pursue both as a matter of urgency, he added. 

He recalled that the recently concluded Summit of the Future resulted in new international commitment to revitalize the global disarmament regime and to bring the world closer to the goal of total elimination of nuclear weapons, which the vast majority of UN Member States support. 

 “The time has come to take steps to ensure that a nuclear weapon is never used again,” he said. 

‘Nuclear catastrophe’ risk mounting: General Assembly President 

UN General Assembly President Philémon Yang lamented the current era of heightened nuclear risks. 

“We are also observing a growing nexus between nuclear weapons and domains such as outer and cyber space, and technologies such as artificial intelligence, which are multiplying the danger of a nuclear catastrophe,” he said. 

Mr. Yang gave an overview of the breakdown in international efforts, including the failure to reach consensus at the 2022 conference to review the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).  

The following year also saw Russia withdraw its ratification of the UN-backed Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), as well as the suspension of the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) between the country and the US.

 “Not only is the disarmament and non-proliferation regime being eroded, but the disarmament forums, which should be the venues for States to come together and elaborate solutions, are increasingly becoming venues for recriminations and consensus breaking,” he remarked. 

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 Warnings going unheard: Marshall Islands President 

The President of the Marshall Islands, Heidi Heine, spoke about her country’s experience, history and current challenges with nuclear exposure. 

From 1946 to 1958, while under a Strategic UN Trusteeship administered by the USA, the Pacific Island nation was subjected to 67 known atmospheric nuclear and thermonuclear weapons tests – “the equivalent of 1.6 Hiroshima shots, every day, for 12 years,” she said. 

Her relative, Dwight Heine, stood before the Trusteeship Council in 1954 and 1956 with a petition calling for an end to the tests, “but the cries of our people were brushed off, and the promises of our well-being made in two UN resolutions remain unmet – seven decades later.” 

President Heine said the Marshall Islands remain gravely concerned about the growing risk of proliferation and detonation, both globally and in the Pacific rim.  

“The world is slipping backwards into deeper nuclear risk,” she said. “And again, decades later, in the very same room, our pleas and warnings on the consequences of nuclear detonation seem again unheard by those with their finger on the button.” 

Non-Aligned Movement demands urgent action 

 Ugandan Foreign Minister Jeje Odongo Abubakhar spoke on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which has its roots in the Cold War era. 

NAM’s 121 members remain deeply concerned over the slow progress towards nuclear disarmament and the failure of nuclear weapons holders to eliminate their arsenals. 

“We reaffirm the need for the nuclear-weapon States, which bear the primary responsibility for nuclear disarmament, to take urgent and concrete actions aimed at achieving this goal,” he said. 

Nuclear weapons have ‘no constructive value’: Libya 

 The Acting Foreign Minister of Libya, Eltaher Salem Elbaour, reminded participants that his country decided to relinquish its nuclear weapons programme in 2003. 

 “This is because we believe that these are weapons of destruction have no constructive value,” he said, expressing hope that other countries “will do what Libya, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Belarus have done.”

 He voiced full support for all efforts towards establishing nuclear weapons-free zones around the world. 

Implement existing commitments: US official 

Mallory Stewart, Assistant Secretary for the US Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence and Stability, noted that “important strides” have been made over the decades to establish norms, treaties and practices to prevent nuclear war. 

These achievements are now at risk “as some turn away from the tools that have held back the possibility of nuclear war, withdrawing from key agreements, rejecting dialogue and transparency, engaging in irresponsible nuclear rhetoric.” 

She said the international community must take steps to uphold the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and “move towards, not away from,” the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), while also banning production of fissile material for use in nuclear weapons. 

 “We must implement our existing commitments, including those under the Outer Space Treaty,” she added, noting that a recent UN Security Council resolution on the issue “was cynically vetoed”. 

Ms. Stewart said the US remains ready to engage constructively with Russia on bilateral arms control, and with China on concrete ways to reduce nuclear risks, however “we need each of these countries to demonstrate willingness to engage with us.”