With increased discussion in the past year about nuclear weapons cooperation, and even nuclear proliferation, it is all the more important for the international community of states committed to non-proliferation and disarmament to reinforce the multilateral disarmament and  non-proliferation regime and its critical norms for global peace and security. The possession of nuclear weapons and adherence to nuclear deterrence policies in some states carries with it concrete risks and threats to all states and to all life. While a minority of the world’s  governments have endorsed nuclear deterrence policies and some have even considered increasing reliance on nuclear weapons in response to perceptions of security threats, most countries have rejected nuclear weapons, and instead negotiated and implemented multilateral  instruments to curtail nuclear weapons.

That is why, to strengthen their own national security, the global majority of states have joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and signed or ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). The TPNW builds on the NPT by further articulating the humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons, nuclear risk, and threat perceptions, as well as explicitly prohibiting nuclear weapons activities, from stationing and hosting nuclear weapons, to use of nuclear weapons, to threat of their use, and by envisioning a verifiable pathway for nuclear- armed states to join and disarm.

Given the gravity of the consequences and risks inherent in nuclear weapons and nuclear deterrence doctrines relying on them, it is also a legitimate interest of all states in fulfilling their responsibility to protect their populations from threats to their security to seek maximum possible transparency on the security implications from the possible intentional or accidental use of nuclear weapons, both globally as well as for their States and their populations. National security and secrecy requirements of nuclear weapon states should therefore be weighed against the legitimate security concerns and consequent transparency and accountability interests of non-nuclear-weapon states as far as they pertain to understanding and protecting their own populations from the risks and consequences of nuclear weapons explosions.

In this side event, panelists will highlight the security threats posed by the existence of nuclear weapons and reliance on nuclear deterrence, including from national and regional perspectives, and pathways to address these security threats, including in the NPT, both historically and in today’s context.