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Geneva 8 November 2023
The states parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will be meeting at the UN in New York from 27 November to 1 December to review progress on the treaty’s implementation and agree on action to further strengthen it.
Alongside the UN meeting, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), the TPNW’s civil society coordinator, will be hosting and coordinating a series of events for the accompanying Nuclear Ban Week across New York City and elsewhere.
The week will bring together governments, scientists and campaigners from all over the world to demand an end to nuclear weapons and show their support for the TPNW as the path to get there.
This meeting and the Nuclear Ban Week matter because urgent action is needed to eliminate nuclear weapons given the threat that they could be used in conflict is at its highest since the Cold War due to Russia’s nuclear threats around its invasion of Ukraine, the conflict involving nuclear-armed Israel in Gaza and acute nuclear tensions on the Korean peninsula.
The TPNW is where governments are coming together to take concrete steps to get rid of these weapons of mass destruction. The upcoming meeting will be the only venue where we will see multilateral action on nuclear disarmament in 2023, given progress under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty has been stalled since 2010
The TPNW was adopted by 122 countries in 2017 and came into force in 2021. It now has the support of 140 states with almost half of UN members already having signed, ratified or acceded to the treaty.
The states parties, or members, of the treaty held their first meeting last year where, in light of Russia’s nuclear sabre rattling over Ukraine, they condemned any and all threats to use nuclear weapons in terms that have since been echoed by the G20 and individual leaders, including President Xi Jinping, Chancellor Scholz and NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg. The meeting also agreed on the Vienna Action Plan to implement and strengthen the treaty and this year’s meeting will hear the impressive progress countries are making in its implementation.
You can find the details of the main events below.
TPNW Second Meeting of States Parties – 27 November to 1 December
This meeting is where progress is being made on nuclear disarmament. Having ratified or acceded to the TPNW, the states at this meeting will be strengthening the treaty, fulfilling their responsibilities to reduce nuclear risk, address impacts of nuclear testing and use on people and the environment, and condemn behaviour that puts the world at risk. We are expecting to see a powerful outcome with the states parties showing the progress they have made on implementing the Vienna Action Plan they agreed last year, welcoming new states parties, and agreeing a declaration that condemns nuclear deterrence, locating nuclear weapons in third countries (so-called nuclear sharing) and challenges threats to resume nuclear testing.
You can find more information about the meeting of states parties here.
Nuclear Ban Week events – 26 November to 30 November
Sunday 26 November
Global Day of Action Against Nuclear Weapons
Venue: cities and towns across the world
26 November will be a day of international action to call for an end to nuclear weapons and bring attention to the TPNW. All around the world, people will be taking action to show the delegations in New York that we expect them to be bold, courageous and use the TPNW to dismantle nuclear deterrence, and make sure the rest of the world is paying attention to this crucial opportunity. For more information see here.
Monday 27 November
A Call for Justice: Korean A-Bomb victims and the People’s Tribunal – 11.30 ET
Venue: United Nations: Conference Room A
When the United States attacked Hiroshima and Nagasaki with nuclear weapons, 40,000 Koreans who had been conscripted as labourers by Japan were among the 215,000 people killed. It took protests and campaigning by Korean survivors and their supporters to bring some recognition of what they suffered and they continue to push for justice. In 2019, they decided to initiate a People’s Tribunal to build international legal grounds and political legitimacy for future legal action against the US. In this event, we will hear testimony from Korean atomic bomb victims and provide a briefing on the International People’s Tribunal to hold the US accountable for dropping Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
NB for events inside the United Nations building you will need UN accreditation to gain access. For more information please contact the UN Media Accreditation and Information Unit
ICAN Parliamentary Conference – 14.00 ET
Venue: United Nations (invitation only)
This conference will bring together parliamentarians from different countries and parties who support the TPNW to continue their dialogue on the abolition of nuclear weapons and to share information and network on work to advance the TPNW in their respective countries. Through presentations by a selection of experts in humanitarian law, diplomacy and international cooperation, the conference aims to foster sharing of information and strategies with an emphasis on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons.
The parliamentarian conference is an opportunity for the elected officials to agree on common practical next steps for governments outside the treaty and is open to legislators from all countries and parties.
For interviews with parliamentarians contact ICAN’s Head of Media Alistair Burnett alistair@icanw.org +41 78 238 7179
The New Manhattan Project: a concert for nuclear abolition – 19.30 ET
Venue: The Japan Society 333 E 47th St New York, NY 10017
With music direction by jazz composer Sam Sadigursky and with Noah Diamond as tour guide, this concert is a journey to discover the nuclear legacy that New York City uniquely claims. Short videos of sites on the Nuclear NYC Map interweave with live performances by Sam Sadigursky, Taiko Aiko Kai, and MARK Harmony (a group of young singers from the Marshall Islands whose families were exiled due to devastation caused by US nuclear weapons tests).
Tuesday 28 November
Rally and March to Abolish Nuclear Weapons– 09.00 ET
Venue: Isiah Wall East 43rd Street & 1st Avenue New York, NY 10017
US campaigners will hold a rally and march from the United Nations to the US and Russian Missions. There will be a vigil and music at the Isaiah Wall (First Ave. & 43rd Street) followed by a march to the US Mission to the UN (First Ave. & 45th St.) and the Russian Mission to the UN (67th St. near Third Ave.) to demand that they eliminate their nuclear arsenals and join the TPNW.
Youth Meeting of States Parties – 12.00 ET
Venue: Church Center for the UN 777 UN Plaza 2nd Floor New York, NY 10017 and online
Building on the success of the first Youth Meeting of States Parties last year, Youth for TPNW is hosting the second Youth MSP alongside the meeting at the UN. The half-day hybrid conference will feature panel sessions, and discussion among youth leaders. In the run-up to the event, Youth for TPNW have put together a series of workshops and panels for youth delegates, allowing them to gain experience in policy, campaigning, diplomacy, and advocacy. The event is taking place in person in New York City and online.
Artists Against the Bomb at the Judd Foundation – 1800 ET
Venue: Judd Foundation 101 Spring St New York, NY 10012
An exhibition in support of the TPNW organised by Estudio Pedro Reyes and ICAN. Artists Against The Bomb is an exploration of the profound impact that artists, visionaries, and ordinary citizens have had on the global campaign to prevent nuclear catastrophe. With the threat that nuclear weapons could be used at their highest since the Cold War, these voices are needed more than ever. Primarily curated by Mexican artist Pedro Reyes, the exhibition features the work of leading artists, from Débora Delmar and Yasuhiro Suzuki, to Pussy Riot/Nadya Tolokonnikova and the Guerrilla Girls.
Wednesday 29 November
Wall St and the Nuclear Ban Treaty – 08.30 ET
Venue: Domini Impact Investments 180 Maiden Lane New York, NY 10038
Ongoing threats to use nuclear weapons create a systemic risk for investors. The mere news of their possible deployment has an immediate negative effect on financial markets, across every sector and asset class. In the context of Russia’s threats to use nuclear weapons in the ongoing Ukraine conflict, and tensions in the Korean peninsula, this breakfast discussion will bring together asset managers, asset owners, data and service providers and nuclear experts to explore strategies investors can use to assess, address and minimise their own portfolio exposure, while contributing to the global norms preventing harms from these weapons of mass destruction. This discussion will examine the new legal landscape as a result of the TPNW, share existing strategies to address the risks of nuclear weapons, and explore new opportunities and implications for the investment community to support the renewed global movement against nuclear weapons.
The Philip Glass Ensemble: Godfrey Reggio’s Koyaanisqati – 19.00 ET
Venue: Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street
The Philip Glass Ensemble, conducted by long time music director Michael Riesman, delivers a live performance of the Glass’s soundtrack to accompany a full screening of the film Koyaanisqatsi.
NB For access to this event you will need to contact the Town Hall
Thursday 30 November
The Urgency of Disarmament – panel event with Setsuko Thurlow – 19.00 ET
Venue: Scandinavia House 58 Park Ave 2nd Floor New York, NY 10017
The TPNW is critically important to preventing nuclear war and achieving a nuclear weapons-free world. With the tectonic geopolitical changes and intensifying confrontations between nuclear powers and proliferation pressures from Seoul to Tehran driving a new arms race as nuclear-armed states modernise their arsenals and apply cyber, AI, and other emerging technology is applied to weaponry, urgent action is needed to bring all states into the treaty and to reduce nuclear risk. This event will hear from leading campaigners for the elimination of nuclear weapons, including Setsuko Thurlow, the Hiroshima survivor and lifelong disarmament campaigner who received the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of ICAN
A full list of events during Nuclear Ban Week is available here
For more information on these events contact
ICAN Head of Media, Alistair Burnett alistair@icanw.org +41 78 238 7179
ENDS
Editor’s Notes
- The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) bans countries from developing, testing, producing, manufacturing, transferring, possessing, stockpiling, using or threatening to use nuclear weapons, or allowing nuclear weapons to be stationed on their territory. It also prohibits them from assisting, encouraging or inducing anyone to engage in these activities.
- The second meeting of states parties to the TPNW will be held at the UN in New York from 27 November to 1 December and one of the key areas to be discussed will be the report of the working group on a verification mechanism for the treaty. The meeting will also hear a report from the Scientific Advisory Group on developments regarding nuclear weapons, nuclear weapon risks, the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, nuclear disarmament and related issues. The meeting will also make decisions on support for victims and survivors of nuclear testing and environmental remediation, and advance discussions on a proposed international trust fund for affected states.
- ICAN is the civil society coordinator for the TPNW.
About ICAN
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is a coalition of non-governmental organizations in one hundred countries promoting adherence to and implementation of the United Nations nuclear weapon ban treaty. This landmark global agreement was adopted in New York on 7 July 2017. The campaign was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2017, for its “groundbreaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition” of nuclear weapons. More information about ICAN can be found at: www.icanw.org |
