New Zealand

Nuclear-weapon-free state

Has joined the TPNW

SIGNED

RATIFIED

IN FORCE

SIGNED

20 September 2017

RATIFIED

31 July 2018

IN FORCE

22 January 2021

Status

New Zealand 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

Craig Hawke, the then-permanent representative of New Zealand to the United Nations, signed the TPNW at a high-level ceremony in New York when it opened for signature on 20 September 2017. He deposited New Zealand’s instrument of ratification with the UN secretary-general on 31 July 2018.

New Zealand was the 14th state to ratify or accede to the treaty. Its ratification applies also to the dependent territory of Tokelau.

Following a decision by the cabinet of New Zealand on 14 May 2018 to approve the ratification, the then-minister of foreign affairs, Winston Peters, remarked: “Joining the treaty is a logical step for New Zealand given our long-standing policy opposing nuclear weapons.”

The foreign affairs, defence, and trade committee of New Zealand’s parliament subsequently examined the TPNW and issued a report supporting ratification. The committee received public submissions, of which “virtually all expressed strong support”.

Ambassador Craig Hawke of New Zealand signs the TPNW in 2017. Photo: ICAN

Hawke deposits New Zealand’s instrument of ratification in 2018. Photo: UNOLA

National position

New Zealand has described the TPNW as “the most ambitious legal pathway currently available to advance nuclear disarmament” and has said that the treaty “has an important role to play in strengthening international humanitarian law and the global norm against nuclear weapons”.

In 2021, New Zealand said that the TPNW’s entry into force had “injected some momentum into nuclear disarmament efforts”, adding: “New Zealand is proud to be a TPNW state party – one of ten from the Pacific, a region free of nuclear weapons, but with nuclear legacy issues to be overcome.”

Implementation

In accordance with Article 2 of the TPNW, New Zealand submitted a declaration to the UN secretary-general on 18 January 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.

As required by Article 3, New Zealand has a comprehensive safeguards agreement in force with the International Atomic Energy Agency to guard against the misuse of nuclear facilities and materials. It also has an additional protocol in force.

Per Article 12, New Zealand 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 video message in 2020 to mark the 75th anniversary of the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the then-prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, “urge[d] all others to join with us in ratifying this landmark treaty as a necessary step towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons”.

In 2022, she said that “New Zealand continues to stand against nuclear weapons and encourages all states to join the [TPNW]”, adding: “It is a fundamental mistake to believe nuclear weapons can ever make the world a safer place for us or our children and grandchildren.”

New Zealand has actively promoted adherence to the TPNW through ministerial-level bilateral meetings, opinion articles and social media posts, as well as by hosting regional conferences on the TPNW.

In 2018, New Zealand hosted a conference with delegates from 12 Pacific island states. They adopted a statement acknowledging “the need to expedite the treaty’s entry into force”.

In an opening address, Peters commented that “we see the nuclear weapon prohibition treaty as the global version of our [South Pacific] nuclear-free zone”. In a video message, Ardern described the TPNW as “a significant first step towards the elimination of nuclear weapons”.

New Zealand hosted a similar conference with Pacific island states in 2021, albeit in virtual format. Its aims were to prepare for the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW in 2022 and to continue to achieve progress towards universal adherence.

New Zealand has also worked in partnership with Thailand to encourage members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to become TPNW states parties.

In 2025, New Zealand called on “all states to join the [TPNW], as the clearest rejection possible of nuclear weapons”.

Delegates from across the Pacific meet in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2018 for a regional conference on the TPNW. Photo: PEACInstitute

New Zealand hosts a virtual conference with Pacific island states in 2021 to prepare for the first meeting of states parties. Photo: NZ MFAT

Meetings of states parties

New Zealand participated in the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW in 2022. Philip Twyford, the then-minister for disarmament and arms control, said: “Nuclear weapons are never the answer. But our treaty can be.”

He said that “nuclear weapons are immoral and illegal, and their tyranny must end”, adding: “It has been inspiring to see membership of the treaty grow, and I am proud that 10 of its first 50 parties were from the Pacific – a region bearing the scars of decades of nuclear testing.”

At the meeting, New Zealand and Mexico were appointed as co-chairs of an informal working group responsible for promoting implementation of Article 4 of the TPNW, in particular with respect to the future designation of a competent international authority or authorities to oversee such work.

New Zealand described the meeting as “a rare bright spot and a timely opportunity to reiterate our unequivocal rejection of nuclear weapons”.

New Zealand also participated in the second meeting of states parties in 2023 and the third meeting in 2025, at which it was appointed as a co-chair, together with Austria and Uruguay, of an informal working group responsible for promoting the TPNW’s universalisation.

TPNW negotiations

New Zealand participated in the negotiation of the TPNW at the United Nations in New York in 2017 and was among 122 states that voted in favour of its adoption. It served as a vice-president of the bureau.

In its opening statement to the negotiating conference, New Zealand remarked that, “in the short term at least, there will be limits to the reach and normative influence of our treaty”, but this was the case also for the early efforts to proscribe chemical and biological weapons, it noted.

In 2016, New Zealand 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”.

Ambassador Dell Higgie of New Zealand delivers a statement during the TPNW negotiations in 2017. Photo: ICAN

Government officials and civil society representatives from New Zealand pose with a banner during the TPNW negotiations in 2017.

Before the negotiations

Prior to the adoption of the TPNW in 2017, nuclear weapons were the only weapons of mass destruction not subject to a comprehensive, globally applicable treaty prohibition. New Zealand supported calls in the UN General Assembly fill this “legal gap”.

Further information

Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor

New Zealand

Nuclear-weapon-free state

Has joined the TPNW

Status

Signature and ratification

National position

Implementation

Meetings of states parties

TPNW negotiations

Before the negotiations

Further information

Local Partner Organizations

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