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Solomon Islands
Nuclear-weapon-free state
Has joined the TPNW
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SIGNED 24 September 2024 |
RATIFIED 24 September 2024 |
IN FORCE 23 December 2024 |
Status
The Solomon Islands has signed and ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), and has been legally bound by it since 23 December 2024.
Signature and ratification
Peter Shanel Agovaka, the minister of foreign affairs and external trade of the Solomon Islands, signed the TPNW at a high-level ceremony in New York on 24 September 2024 and deposited the country’s instrument of ratification with the UN secretary-general at the same time.
“We in the Pacific put a human face to the agony of nuclear weapons,” Agovaka said at the United Nations later that week. “More than 300 nuclear tests were conducted in the Pacific. Sadly external powers continue to store and dump nuclear waste into our ocean.”
In a press release, the government said that its decision to ratify the TPNW “demonstrates its commitment to global efforts towards total elimination of nuclear weapons”.
The Solomon Islands was the equal 71st state to ratify or accede to the TPNW and the 11th Pacific island state to do so.
Peter Shanel Agovaka, the minister of foreign affairs of the Solomon Islands, signs the TPNW in 2024. Photo: Derek French
Agovaka deposits the instrument of ratification in 2024. Photo: Derek French
National position
In 2024, the Solomon Islands said that the TPNW “provides a powerful tool and political pressure on the nuclear-weapon states and their allies to energise progress on nuclear disarmament and strengthen the norm against nuclear weapons”.
It also described the treaty as “fully consistent with the existing nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regimes which Solomon Islands is a party to”.
Solomon Islands youth from the Pacific chapter of Reverse the Trend, an initiative of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, express their support for the TPNW in 2024. Photo: David Subu
Implementation
In accordance with Article 2 of the TPNW, the Solomon Islands submitted a declaration to the UN secretary-general on 9 January 2025 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, the Solomon Islands has promoted universal adherence to the TPNW, including by 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”.
TPNW negotiations
The Solomon Islands 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.
In 2016, the Solomon Islands voted in the first committee of the UN General Assembly in favour of a draft resolution that established the mandate for states to commence negotiations on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.
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. The Solomon Islands supported calls in the UN General Assembly fill this “legal gap”.
Further information
Nuclear-weapon-free state
Has joined the TPNW
[HIGHLIGHTS]
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SIGNED 24 September 2024 |
RATIFIED 24 September 2024 |
IN FORCE 23 December 2024 |
Status
The Solomon Islands has signed and ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), and has been legally bound by it since 23 December 2024.
Signature and ratification
Peter Shanel Agovaka, the minister of foreign affairs and external trade of the Solomon Islands, signed the TPNW at a high-level ceremony in New York on 24 September 2024 and deposited the country’s instrument of ratification with the UN secretary-general at the same time.
“We in the Pacific put a human face to the agony of nuclear weapons,” Agovaka said at the United Nations later that week. “More than 300 nuclear tests were conducted in the Pacific. Sadly external powers continue to store and dump nuclear waste into our ocean.”
In a press release, the government said that its decision to ratify the TPNW “demonstrates its commitment to global efforts towards total elimination of nuclear weapons”.
The Solomon Islands was the equal 71st state to ratify or accede to the TPNW and the 11th Pacific island state to do so.
Peter Shanel Agovaka, the minister of foreign affairs of the Solomon Islands, signs the TPNW in 2024. Photo: Derek French
Agovaka deposits the instrument of ratification in 2024. Photo: Derek French
National position
In 2024, the Solomon Islands said that the TPNW “provides a powerful tool and political pressure on the nuclear-weapon states and their allies to energise progress on nuclear disarmament and strengthen the norm against nuclear weapons”.
It also described the treaty as “fully consistent with the existing nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regimes which Solomon Islands is a party to”.
Solomon Islands youth from the Pacific chapter of Reverse the Trend, an initiative of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, express their support for the TPNW in 2024. Photo: David Subu
Implementation
In accordance with Article 2 of the TPNW, the Solomon Islands submitted a declaration to the UN secretary-general on 9 January 2025 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, the Solomon Islands has promoted universal adherence to the TPNW, including by 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”.
TPNW negotiations
The Solomon Islands 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.
In 2016, the Solomon Islands voted in the first committee of the UN General Assembly in favour of a draft resolution that established the mandate for states to commence negotiations on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.
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. The Solomon Islands supported calls in the UN General Assembly fill this “legal gap”.
Further information
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