December 23, 2024 Campaign News

Rising together against the nuclear threat: ICAN’s highlights for 2024

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In 2024, we saw a strong global pushback against the nuclear threat. While the danger of nuclear weapons use seemed to loom larger than ever, with mounting tensions, escalatory rhetoric, irresponsible policy changes and the conflicts in Russia and the Middle East driving up the risk, all around the world, ICAN campaigners spoke out and took bold, powerful action, demanding their governments do their part to get rid of nuclear weapons once and for all. 

Here are some of the highlights from 2024: 

#5 We now have half of the world on board with the treaty banning nuclear weapons

Indonesia, Sierra Leone and Solomon Islands became the latest states parties to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), in a clear signal of the global support for the total elimination of nuclear weapons, and the ban as a way to get there. São Tomé and Príncipe also ratified it at the beginning of the year.

#4 Launch of the Swiss Popular Initiative

“We demand that words are finally followed by action.”

When the Swiss Government decided to ignore the will of parliament and instead bow to the will of nuclear-armed states, we refused to take no for an answer. We helped to form an alliance of Swiss organisations to launch a federal popular initiative to put the power to join the treaty into the hands of the Swiss people. This is the first case where we are using direct democracy to fight back against closed-door decision-making. 

#3 Now reaching over 100 cities each in Spain and Italy, the City Appeal is growing rapidly

Local governments have been playing a massive role in building up pressure in pro-nuclear weapons countries, with 123 new cities making the case this year, including capitals and iconic cities like Tirana, Rome and the Hague and the first two cities in India, and cities in Greece are joining rapidly. Special mention goes to Italy and Spain, in which each crossed the milestone of 100 cities on board the ICAN Cities Appeal!

#2 Pushing back against nuclear weapons spending with a powerful week of action

Every year, ICAN publishes the only report exposing the billions of dollars wasted on nuclear weapons, generating global headlines and sparking outrage. The news that the nine nuclear-armed states spent $91.4 billion in 2023 generated considerable coverage across the world including in top-tier outlets in the nuclear-armed states this year (ABC, NBC, Washington Post, Newsweek, NPR, BBC,  The Guardian, The Times, Radio France, BFM TV and Le Figaro and more). Irish President Michael D Higgins responded to the report, and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva cited our figures when addressing the UN General Assembly, while Costa Rica, Jamaica, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka all referred to ICAN’s figures in national statements on nuclear weapons. 

This year, in addition to releasing the report, ICAN called for a week of action against this unacceptable diversion of public resources. And campaigners from around the world delivered. From the US to Italy, from Japan to Switzerland, we saw rallies, signature drives, teach-ins, social media collaborations, Op-Eds, webinars, protests at banks, media campaigns and more to put pressure on governments and financial institutions to stop spending on nuclear weapons. Look back at the action here. 

Honourable mentions

It has been such a busy year that it is impossible to list all the incredible things ICAN and our campaigners did in one article (do keep an eye out for our annual report early next year). But here are a few more great moments from this year that also warrant a shout-out:

  • Three days for nuclear disarmament and nuclear justice in Kazakhstan, a country still dealing with the legacy of nuclear testing. 
  • Artists Against the Bomb exhibits at the Malta Biennale, in Berlin, and in Mexico’s iconic Anahuacalli museum
  • A powerful new report describing how nuclear weapons are uniquely harmful to children, based on the experiences of children in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and those living near nuclear test sites 
  • Our Euros2024 fantasy football league!
  • Our Tour de Canada and Roadshows in Belgium and Norway. 
  • More meaningful engagement and attention to the impacts of nuclear weapons use and testing in the media - including this stunning series in the New York Times
  • A new statement by the Global Alliance for Banking on Values calling for the financial industry to stop profiting from weapons (including nuclear weapons)
  • Shinichi's Tricycle installed at the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum in Geneva.

#1 Nobel Peace Prize for the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

October came with unexpected but very timely and welcome news: Nihon Hidankyo’s Nobel Peace Prize (!!!) “for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again” and the organisation’s key role in building up and maintaining the nuclear taboo. 

Terumi Tanaka delivers Nobel Peace Lecture

Having worked alongside this Japanese grassroots movement of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and other hibakusha to push for the prohibition and total elimination of nuclear weapons, ICAN was thrilled by this exciting award and was proud to help support and celebrate them in Oslo during the Nobel Peace Week. The hibakusha’s testimonies and tireless campaigning have been crucial to progress on nuclear disarmament in general and the adoption and entry into force of the TPNW in particular. As we mark 80 years since the devastating U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we can build on the momentum from this past year and use this opportunity to build on the ban.

 

Help power our work in 2025 

For 80 years, the world has lived under the shadow of nuclear weapons, a threat that endangers all life on Earth, and now looms larger than ever. It's time to say: enough. Will you help power ICAN's work in 2025 to end nuclear weapons for good?

Further reading:

Two-thirds of the world’s countries support TPNW

ICAN and ICAN France co-host ICAN Campaign Forum – Paris 2020

Climate disruption: new study highlights the devastating global impact of regional nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan

12 States join the Nuclear Ban Treaty on International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons 2019

Nobel Peace Laureates Summit stresses the urgent need to prevent nuclear war

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