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Tuvalu
Nuclear-weapon-free state
Has joined the TPNW
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SIGNED
20 September 2017 |
RATIFIED
12 October 2020 |
IN FORCE
22 January 2021 |
Status
Tuvalu has signed and ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). It was among the original 50 states parties to the treaty when it entered into force on 22 January 2021.
Signature and ratification
Enele Sopoaga, the then-prime minister of Tuvalu, signed the TPNW at a high-level ceremony in New York when it opened for signature on 20 September 2017.
In an address to the United Nations following the signing ceremony, he said: “It is our fervent hope that nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction … are totally banned and prohibited worldwide by the UN.”
Tuvalu was the 47th nation to ratify or accede to the TPNW.
Enele Sopoaga, the then-prime minister of Tuvalu, signs the TPNW in 2017. Photo: ICAN
Implementation
In accordance with Article 2 of the TPNW, Tuvalu submitted a declaration to the UN secretary-general on 18 February 2021 confirming that it does not own, possess, or control nuclear weapons, has never done so, and does not host any other state’s nuclear weapons on its territory.
Per Article 12, Tuvalu has promoted universal adherence to the TPNW, including by co-sponsoring and consistently voting in favour of an annual UN General Assembly resolution since 2018 that calls upon all states to sign, ratify, or accede to the treaty “at the earliest possible date”.
In a statement to the United Nations in October 2020, Tuvalu said that it stands in solidarity with the victims of nuclear weapon use and testing, including in the Pacific, and that it joined the TPNW “because it does not want history to repeat itself”.
TPNW negotiations
Tuvalu did not participate in the negotiation of the TPNW at the United Nations in New York in 2017 and thus did not vote on its adoption.
In 2016, Tuvalu co-sponsored the UN General Assembly resolution that established the formal mandate for states to commence negotiations on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.
Before the negotiations
Tuvalu was among 127 states that endorsed a “humanitarian pledge” in 2015–16 to cooperate “in efforts to stigmatise, prohibit, and eliminate nuclear weapons”. The pledge was instrumental in building momentum and support for convening the TPNW negotiations.
Tuvalu, together with Fiji, Nauru, Palau, and Samoa, submitted a working paper to a UN working group in Geneva in 2016 in which it argued that “the debate should no longer be about whether a global ban on nuclear weapons is necessary, but rather how we can achieve it and what provisions it should contain”.
The five Pacific island states commented that the lived experience of nuclear weapons in the Pacific, where more than 300 atomic and hydrogen bombs were tested, has motivated them to work for a treaty-based ban.
Nuclear-weapon-free state
Has joined the TPNW
[HIGHLIGHTS]
|
|
|
|
SIGNED
20 September 2017 |
RATIFIED
12 October 2020 |
IN FORCE
22 January 2021 |
Status
Tuvalu has signed and ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). It was among the original 50 states parties to the treaty when it entered into force on 22 January 2021.
Signature and ratification
Enele Sopoaga, the then-prime minister of Tuvalu, signed the TPNW at a high-level ceremony in New York when it opened for signature on 20 September 2017.
In an address to the United Nations following the signing ceremony, he said: “It is our fervent hope that nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction … are totally banned and prohibited worldwide by the UN.”
Tuvalu was the 47th nation to ratify or accede to the TPNW.
Enele Sopoaga, the then-prime minister of Tuvalu, signs the TPNW in 2017. Photo: ICAN
Implementation
In accordance with Article 2 of the TPNW, Tuvalu submitted a declaration to the UN secretary-general on 18 February 2021 confirming that it does not own, possess, or control nuclear weapons, has never done so, and does not host any other state’s nuclear weapons on its territory.
Per Article 12, Tuvalu has promoted universal adherence to the TPNW, including by co-sponsoring and consistently voting in favour of an annual UN General Assembly resolution since 2018 that calls upon all states to sign, ratify, or accede to the treaty “at the earliest possible date”.
In a statement to the United Nations in October 2020, Tuvalu said that it stands in solidarity with the victims of nuclear weapon use and testing, including in the Pacific, and that it joined the TPNW “because it does not want history to repeat itself”.
TPNW negotiations
Tuvalu did not participate in the negotiation of the TPNW at the United Nations in New York in 2017 and thus did not vote on its adoption.
In 2016, Tuvalu co-sponsored the UN General Assembly resolution that established the formal mandate for states to commence negotiations on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.
Before the negotiations
Tuvalu was among 127 states that endorsed a “humanitarian pledge” in 2015–16 to cooperate “in efforts to stigmatise, prohibit, and eliminate nuclear weapons”. The pledge was instrumental in building momentum and support for convening the TPNW negotiations.
Tuvalu, together with Fiji, Nauru, Palau, and Samoa, submitted a working paper to a UN working group in Geneva in 2016 in which it argued that “the debate should no longer be about whether a global ban on nuclear weapons is necessary, but rather how we can achieve it and what provisions it should contain”.
The five Pacific island states commented that the lived experience of nuclear weapons in the Pacific, where more than 300 atomic and hydrogen bombs were tested, has motivated them to work for a treaty-based ban.
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