Norway

Nuclear-weapon endorser

Has not yet joined the TPNW

SIGNED

RATIFIED

IN FORCE

Status

Norway has not yet signed or ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

National position

In 2024, the prime minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Støre, said at a press conference that his country supports the goal of the TPNW, “but due to the obligations inherent in our membership in the [North Atlantic Treaty Organisation] alliance, it is not appropriate to sign it now”.

He also noted that Norway’s initiative in 2013 to convene the first-ever intergovernmental conference on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons had paved the way to the TPNW’s adoption.

Norway has consistently voted against an annual UN General Assembly resolution since 2018 that welcomes the adoption of the TPNW and calls upon all states to sign, ratify, or accede to it “at the earliest possible date”.

Norway supports the retention and potential use of nuclear weapons on its behalf, as indicated by its endorsement of various alliance statements of NATO.

In 2022, the then-state secretary of Norway, Eivind Vad Petersson, said that “we acknowledge and understand the impatience” of states that have signed the TPNW to see greater progress towards disarmament. “Our goal remains to rid the world of nuclear weapons.”

Political developments

Several Norwegian political parties have expressed support for Norway’s accession to the TPNW, including the Liberal, Christian Democratic, Centre, Socialist Left, Green, and Red parties.

The Labour party, which holds the greatest number of seats in the current parliament, has offered qualified support, declaring in 2021 that “it should be a goal for Norway and other NATO countries to sign the nuclear ban treaty” while emphasising the political challenges in doing so.

In 2022, the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions, the most influential umbrella organisation of labour unions in Norway, resolved to work for Norway’s signature and ratification of the TPNW and for the integration of the TPNW into NATO’s disarmament strategy.

Six former Norwegian prime ministers, foreign ministers, and defence ministers – Kjell Magne Bondevik, Bjørn Tore Godal, Thorbjørn Jagland, Eldbjørg Løwer, Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen, and Knut Vollebæk – signed an open letter in 2020 calling on current leaders to “show courage and boldness – and join the [TPNW]”. They co-authored a separate opinion article for the Aftenposten newspaper in which they reiterated their call for Norway to join the treaty.

In 2018, the Norwegian parliament asked the Norwegian government to review the consequences of becoming a state party to the TPNW. In its report, the government said that Norway could not join the treaty “without coming into conflict with our membership in NATO”. However, the then-minister of foreign affairs, Ine Eriksen Søreide, conceded that “there is no legal obligation barring Norway from signing or ratifying the [TPNW]”.

Dozens of Norwegian cities, including the capital city, Oslo, have called on the Norwegian government to sign and ratify the TPNW.

In 2024, when the Nobel peace prize was awarded to the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), the chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, implored countries to ratify the TPNW. “Political action is crucial,” he said.

Dignitaries including the then-prime minister of Norway, Erna Solberg, attend a ceremony in Oslo in 2017 at which ICAN received the Nobel peace prize. Photo: ICAN

Meetings of states parties

Norway observed the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW in 2022. “We seek a constructive dialogue between all states to advance nuclear disarmament and counter polarisation in this area,” it said.

However, it emphasised that its participation in the meeting “is not a step towards signing nor ratifying the TPNW, which would be incompatible with our NATO obligations”, adding that “Norway stands fully behind NATO’s nuclear posture”.

At the second meeting of states parties in 2023, Norway reiterated this position, adding that it stands fully behind NATO’s “established nuclear-sharing arrangements”, referring to the deployment of US nuclear weapons in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Türkiye.

Public opinion

A public opinion poll conducted by Respons Analyse in 2019 found that 78 per cent of Norwegians believe that their government should sign and ratify the TPNW, with 9 per cent opposed and 13 per cent unsure.

Of the 78 per cent of Norwegians who support joining the TPNW, 85 per cent believe that Norway should join even if we were to be the first NATO country to do so, with 5 per cent opposed to such a move and 10 per cent unsure.

Thousands of Norwegians march in Oslo in 2017 in support of the TPNW and in celebration of the Nobel peace prize awarded to ICAN. Photo: ICAN

TPNW negotiations

Norway 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, Norway voted against 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”.

In a document sent to NATO members ahead of the vote, the United States “strongly encourage[d]” members, including Norway, to vote against the resolution, “not to merely abstain”. In addition, it said that, if the treaty negotiations do commence, allies and partners should “refrain from joining them”.

Before the negotiations

In 2013, the Norwegian government hosted in Oslo the first in a series of major intergovernmental conferences on the “humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons”, which helped pave the way to the TPNW negotiations in 2017.

The goal of negotiating a new legal instrument to outlaw nuclear weapons was a key aim of the Norwegian centre–left coalition government from 2010 until its defeat at the parliamentary election in 2013, according to scholars.

Delegates representing 128 states meet in Oslo in 2013 for the first conference on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons. Photo: ICAN

ICAN campaigners welcome delegates to the humanitarian conference in 2013. Photo: ICAN

Further information

Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor

Norway

Nuclear-weapon endorser

Has not yet joined the TPNW

Status

National position

Political developments

Meetings of states parties

Public opinion

TPNW negotiations

Before the negotiations

Further information

Local Partner Organizations

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