Alicia Sanders-Zakre, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) continued to break new ground at its Second Meeting of States Parties (2MSP), held at the UN in New York from November 27-December 1, 2023. Nearly one hundred countries attended the meeting, where they agreed by consensus on a powerful declaration and package of decisions and reviewed the substantial progress to implement the treaty since the First Meeting of States Parties (1MSP) in June 2022. Hundreds of civil society representatives, reflecting a diversity of stakeholders and coordinated by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), organized more than 65 events during the week, intervened throughout the conference, and submitted dozens of working papers.
Outcomes
It is a sad but true reflection of the state of affairs in nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament diplomacy that the success of the 2MSP to adopt outcome documents in and of itself is cause for celebration. The outcome documents are significant for more than just having been adopted, however. In a joint declaration, states parties issued a strong rebuke of the nuclear status quo and the dangerous nuclear activities banned under the TPNW, from nuclear weapons sharing to nuclear testing to deterrence policies in general. The declaration clearly indicates states parties’ commitment to the full implementation of this treaty, including preventing nuclear weapons use and advancing towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons. “The perpetuation and implementation of nuclear deterrence in military and security concepts, doctrines and policies not only erodes and contradicts non-proliferation, but also obstructs progress towards nuclear disarmament,” states parties declared.
The five decisions adopted by states parties solidify implementation structures, take forward work on victim assistance and environmental remediation, and introduce creative ways to tackle obstacles to nuclear disarmament. In Decision 1, states re-committed to the intersessional structure of three working groups on Article 4 (the elimination of nuclear weapons), Articles 6 and 7 (victim assistance, environmental remediation, and international cooperation and assistance), and Article 12 (universalization), respectively, as well as to a gender focal point and co-facilitators on the complementarity of the TPNW with other elements of the disarmament and nonproliferation regime. States parties decided in Decision 2 to allow for thematic debates at future Meetings of States Parties, like the interactive panels at the 2MSP on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons. Decision 3 adopted guidelines and a format for states parties to voluntarily report on their work implementing Articles 6 and 7 while allowing for future improvement of those tools; New Zealand already used the format for its report to the 2MSP. In Decision 4, states agreed to continue discussions on an international trust fund for victim assistance and environmental remediation, to submit a report to the Third Meeting of States Parties (3MSP) with recommendations for such a fund, and to aim to examine the fund’s establishment at the 3MSP “as a priority.” Finally, in Decision 5, states parties agreed to launch a new inclusive and consultative process to examine and explain the security threats posed by nuclear weapons and challenge a security paradigm based on nuclear deterrence, to result in a report submitted to 3MSP. Austria will coordinate this consultative process.
Ninety-four states plus civil society and others participated in the TPNW’s Second Meeting of States Parties at UN headquarters in New York. Credit: ICAN | Darren Ornitz, 2023.
Review of Substantive Work
The conference proceedings were largely dedicated to reporting on and discussing the work of states parties to take forward implementation of the treaty. The co-chairs of each of the working groups (on the elimination of nuclear weapons; victim assistance, environmental remediation and international cooperation and assistance; and universalization), the gender focal point, the complementarity co-facilitators, and the co-chairs of the Scientific Advisory Group presented the reports of their activities and engaged in interactive discussions with states parties.
Each working group had met actively since June 2022 to advance commitments agreed to in the Vienna Action Plan adopted at the 1MSP, and the gender focal point and complementarity co-facilitators similarly organized events and meetings to take forward their mandates. Their reports, submitted to the conference as official documents, summarize their activities and contain recommendations for the next intersessional period for states parties to further their long-term commitments.
The Scientific Advisory Group, in addition to submitting a report on its activities, presented its report “on the status and developments regarding nuclear weapons, nuclear weapon risks, the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, nuclear disarmament and related issues,” which constitutes a useful overview of the latest research and scientific findings combined with recommendations for further research that can be undertaken by other institutions.
Civil Society Inclusion
While states parties were ultimately responsible for adopting the outcomes and advancing implementation work, they were supported before and during the 2MSP by the active participation of and close partnership with civil society, which has distinguished the TPNW from other nuclear weapons treaties.
By ICAN’s count, civil society organizations convened dozens of events in the span the week of the 2MSP, engaging diverse stakeholders, from parliamentarians, to artists, to financial institutions, to youth, to representatives of communities affected by nuclear weapons. Two press conferences held on the final day of the 2MSP featured civil society: one highlighted the voices of communities affected by nuclear weapons, and another, organized by the president of the conference, included ICAN.
Blog author Alicia Sanders-Zakre speaks to ICAN campaigners, who convened at New York’s Brick Church to prepare for the TPNW’s 2MSP on November 26, 2023. Credit: ICAN | Darren Ornitz, 2023.
There were at least 45 interventions from civil society throughout the conference, including at least a dozen from individuals identifying as harmed by nuclear weapons activities. In the general debate, joint statements revealed the diversity and breadth of stakeholders engaged in the TPNW process. A joint statement from communities affected by nuclear weapons was endorsed by 26 nuclear affected organizations and supported by another 45 allied organizations. Guillaume Defossé, representing a delegation of 26 parliamentarians from 14 countries, addressed the conference, and a joint statement by 93 investors, representing US$1 trillion dollars in assets under management was delivered by Marco Carlizzi, chairman of Etica Funds. A joint youth statement was also presented.
Civil society submitted 27 working papers engaging on a variety of topics, including victim assistance, environmental remediation, and international cooperation and assistance; universalization; national implementation; and the elimination of nuclear weapons.
Conclusion
The TPNW is still a young treaty, but it is continuing to grow, both in terms of its membership and its ambition to re-shape the nuclear weapons status quo. Its Second Meeting of States Parties reflected this drive on the part of both states and civil society. Both groups had a very busy week, adopting a strong declaration and innovative decisions within the conference room and organizing dozens of events to bring together the nuclear disarmament community inside and outside of the UN. With fifteen months until the next MSP, it will be up to states and civil society to sustain the momentum and energy in the intersessional period. They should continue to advance this critical element of the nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament regime with the aim of adopting new decisions and presenting updated reports of work at the Third Meeting of States Parties in March 2025.
Alicia Sanders-Zakre, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) continued to break new ground at its Second Meeting of States Parties (2MSP), held at the UN in New York from November 27-December 1, 2023. Nearly one hundred countries attended the meeting, where they agreed by consensus on a powerful declaration and package of decisions and reviewed the substantial progress to implement the treaty since the First Meeting of States Parties (1MSP) in June 2022. Hundreds of civil society representatives, reflecting a diversity of stakeholders and coordinated by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), organized more than 65 events during the week, intervened throughout the conference, and submitted dozens of working papers.
Outcomes
It is a sad but true reflection of the state of affairs in nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament diplomacy that the success of the 2MSP to adopt outcome documents in and of itself is cause for celebration. The outcome documents are significant for more than just having been adopted, however. In a joint declaration, states parties issued a strong rebuke of the nuclear status quo and the dangerous nuclear activities banned under the TPNW, from nuclear weapons sharing to nuclear testing to deterrence policies in general. The declaration clearly indicates states parties’ commitment to the full implementation of this treaty, including preventing nuclear weapons use and advancing towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons. “The perpetuation and implementation of nuclear deterrence in military and security concepts, doctrines and policies not only erodes and contradicts non-proliferation, but also obstructs progress towards nuclear disarmament,” states parties declared.
The five decisions adopted by states parties solidify implementation structures, take forward work on victim assistance and environmental remediation, and introduce creative ways to tackle obstacles to nuclear disarmament. In Decision 1, states re-committed to the intersessional structure of three working groups on Article 4 (the elimination of nuclear weapons), Articles 6 and 7 (victim assistance, environmental remediation, and international cooperation and assistance), and Article 12 (universalization), respectively, as well as to a gender focal point and co-facilitators on the complementarity of the TPNW with other elements of the disarmament and nonproliferation regime. States parties decided in Decision 2 to allow for thematic debates at future Meetings of States Parties, like the interactive panels at the 2MSP on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons. Decision 3 adopted guidelines and a format for states parties to voluntarily report on their work implementing Articles 6 and 7 while allowing for future improvement of those tools; New Zealand already used the format for its report to the 2MSP. In Decision 4, states agreed to continue discussions on an international trust fund for victim assistance and environmental remediation, to submit a report to the Third Meeting of States Parties (3MSP) with recommendations for such a fund, and to aim to examine the fund’s establishment at the 3MSP “as a priority.” Finally, in Decision 5, states parties agreed to launch a new inclusive and consultative process to examine and explain the security threats posed by nuclear weapons and challenge a security paradigm based on nuclear deterrence, to result in a report submitted to 3MSP. Austria will coordinate this consultative process.
Review of Substantive Work
The conference proceedings were largely dedicated to reporting on and discussing the work of states parties to take forward implementation of the treaty. The co-chairs of each of the working groups (on the elimination of nuclear weapons; victim assistance, environmental remediation and international cooperation and assistance; and universalization), the gender focal point, the complementarity co-facilitators, and the co-chairs of the Scientific Advisory Group presented the reports of their activities and engaged in interactive discussions with states parties.
Each working group had met actively since June 2022 to advance commitments agreed to in the Vienna Action Plan adopted at the 1MSP, and the gender focal point and complementarity co-facilitators similarly organized events and meetings to take forward their mandates. Their reports, submitted to the conference as official documents, summarize their activities and contain recommendations for the next intersessional period for states parties to further their long-term commitments.
The Scientific Advisory Group, in addition to submitting a report on its activities, presented its report “on the status and developments regarding nuclear weapons, nuclear weapon risks, the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, nuclear disarmament and related issues,” which constitutes a useful overview of the latest research and scientific findings combined with recommendations for further research that can be undertaken by other institutions.
Civil Society Inclusion
While states parties were ultimately responsible for adopting the outcomes and advancing implementation work, they were supported before and during the 2MSP by the active participation of and close partnership with civil society, which has distinguished the TPNW from other nuclear weapons treaties.
By ICAN’s count, civil society organizations convened dozens of events in the span the week of the 2MSP, engaging diverse stakeholders, from parliamentarians, to artists, to financial institutions, to youth, to representatives of communities affected by nuclear weapons. Two press conferences held on the final day of the 2MSP featured civil society: one highlighted the voices of communities affected by nuclear weapons, and another, organized by the president of the conference, included ICAN.
There were at least 45 interventions from civil society throughout the conference, including at least a dozen from individuals identifying as harmed by nuclear weapons activities. In the general debate, joint statements revealed the diversity and breadth of stakeholders engaged in the TPNW process. A joint statement from communities affected by nuclear weapons was endorsed by 26 nuclear affected organizations and supported by another 45 allied organizations. Guillaume Defossé, representing a delegation of 26 parliamentarians from 14 countries, addressed the conference, and a joint statement by 93 investors, representing US$1 trillion dollars in assets under management was delivered by Marco Carlizzi, chairman of Etica Funds. A joint youth statement was also presented.
Civil society submitted 27 working papers engaging on a variety of topics, including victim assistance, environmental remediation, and international cooperation and assistance; universalization; national implementation; and the elimination of nuclear weapons.
Conclusion
The TPNW is still a young treaty, but it is continuing to grow, both in terms of its membership and its ambition to re-shape the nuclear weapons status quo. Its Second Meeting of States Parties reflected this drive on the part of both states and civil society. Both groups had a very busy week, adopting a strong declaration and innovative decisions within the conference room and organizing dozens of events to bring together the nuclear disarmament community inside and outside of the UN. With fifteen months until the next MSP, it will be up to states and civil society to sustain the momentum and energy in the intersessional period. They should continue to advance this critical element of the nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament regime with the aim of adopting new decisions and presenting updated reports of work at the Third Meeting of States Parties in March 2025.
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