For immediate release. Geneva, 13 May 2020.

Nuclear-armed states set record $73bn spending on nukes as pandemic spreads: new report 

$72.9 billion. That’s how much nine countries spent on nuclear weapons in 2019. In a just-released report, ICAN produced the first estimate in nearly a decade of global nuclear weapon spending, taking into account costs to maintain and build new nuclear weapons.

In its report "Enough is Enough: Global Nuclear Weapons Spending 2020" the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons has produced the first estimate in nearly a decade of global nuclear weapon spending, taking into account costs to maintain and build new nuclear weapons. ICAN estimates that the nine nuclear-armed countries spent $72.9 billion on their 13,000+ nuclear weapons in 2019, equalling $138,699 every minute of 2019 on nuclear weapons, and a $7.1 billion increase from 2018. 

Nuclear weapons production leaves a nasty legacy both for people and the environment. Around the world, nuclear weapons facilities have contaminated land and water with radioactive waste lasting at least 100,000 years. Efforts to clean up the sites have cost billions of dollars over decades - and are still largely unfinished. The five case studies below provide just a preliminary look into the devastating global environmental consequences of building the bomb. 

Governments need more resources to help their citizens impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Nuclear-armed states' decision to divert public resources from health care to weapons of mass destruction is unconscionable. We break down the vital resources the billions of dollars being spent each year by France, the United Kingdom and the United States to maintain, upgrade and develop their nuclear arsenals could pay for.

In a speech outlining his vision for France’s nuclear deterrence strategy, President Macron touted the role of nuclear weapons in European security policy and dismissed calls for their global abolition as an ‘ethical debate’ that lacked ‘realism in the strategic context.’ Meanwhile, Elysee has yet to respond to an invitation to meet renowned Hiroshima survivor Setsuko Thurlow, while she is in Paris next week.

A review of current assistance programs for victims of nuclear weapons highlights that no single best practice exists and that much more work needs to be done to extend the benefits of these programs to all who have suffered.

On February 14 and 15, 2020, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear weapons will be hosting an ICAN Campaign Forum in Paris, France. Organised by ICAN and ICAN France, the ICAN Campaign Forum – Paris 2020 will bring together students and ICAN campaigners from around the world to extract lessons from the ICAN’s work in achieving and promoting the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear weapons, and empower participants to get involved in ending nuclear weapons, or take on other challenges facing the world today.