The World Future Council: NPT Conference update

Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference

Involvement of WFC and other NGOs

The following events during the opening week of the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference at the United Nations in New York had particular significance to the World Future Council:

Second Conference of Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones and Mongolia and the related Civil Society Forum
On the occasion of the NPT Review Conference Member States of Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones (NWFZ) met for the Second Conference of NWFZ and Mongolia on April 30th. The purpose of the conference was to strengthen the NWFZ regimes and contribute to the nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation process, particularly by analysing ways that can promote the achievement of the universal goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world. The meeting’s Final Declaration includes an annex with the Report and Recommendations of the Civil Society Forum on Nuclear Weapon Free Zones, which was held a day earlier at the UN headquarters.

Co-organized by the Permanent Mission of Chile to the UN, Parliamentarians for Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND), the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA), and Mayors for Peace, the civil society gathering brought together over forty representatives of (disarmament) NGOs, as well as several Government representatives. Coordinator of the WFC Disarmament Working Group, Rob van Riet, participated in the meeting. Chair of the meeting was Global Coordinator of PNND, Director of IALANA’s Pacific Office and member of the WFC Disarmament Working Group, Alyn Ware. WFC Honorary Councillor Tadatoshi Akiba, Mayor of Hiroshima and President of Mayors for Peace, noted that Mayors for Peace now had almost 4,000 member cities, representing around 1 billion people. He further commented on their 2020 Vision Campaign, which aims to have the nuclear threat eliminated by 2020, and affirmed his support for the creation of a NWFZ in North-East Asia.

: WFC handing out the booklets

With the goal to find and spread good policies, the World Future Council regards the treaties establishing NWFZs in Antarctica, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Seabed, Outer Space, the South Pacific, Africa, South-East Asia, Mongolia (which unilaterally declared itself a NWFZ) and Central Asia as particularly good policies concerning nuclear disarmament. Furthermore, the WFC notes the increase of such zones over the last five decades (virtually occupying the entire southern hemisphere) and sees the spread of such agreements to other regions as a high priority.

International Conference for Peace and Disarmament
On the eve of the Review Conference at the United Nations in New York began, a group of NGOs organized a weekend-long International Conference for Peace and Disarmament at the Riverside Church in New York City (April 30th - May 1st).
WFC Councillor David Krieger served as panellist at a workshop co-organized by his organization, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF). The workshop dealt with the unsustainability of the nuclear deterrence theory. Panellists stressed the importance of de-legitimizing this theory in order to successfully change the "old security thinking" and move towards abolishing nuclear weapons. The NAPF Briefing Booklet for the NPT Review Conference, authored by Dr. Krieger, deals extensively with this theme.

: Rick Wayman, David Krieger

At the closing session of the NGO Conference, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon affirmed that nuclear disarmament is his top priority. Mayor Akiba, who sat on the panel with the Secretary-General, urged world leaders to achieve nuclear abolition while the hibakusha (surviving victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) are still alive. He stressed that "for the sake of future generations" it is our responsibility to rid the world of these instruments of death in our lifetime. Opening week NPT Review ConferenceDuring the opening session of the actual NPT Review Conference (May 3rd), Secretary-General Ban underlined this urgency, posing to delegates “How long must we wait to rid ourselves of this threat? How long will we keep passing the problem to succeeding generations?” He thereby echoed the WFC’s call to world leaders that it is our responsibility to future generations to secure a nuclear weapon-free world today. That same day, David Krieger led a workshop at the UN Headquarters on how to move from the threat of omnicide -the death of all- to the goal of nuclear abolition. Organized by the NAPF, the workshop served as a follow-up on both the NAPF Briefing Booklet authored by Dr. Krieger and his article in the WFC Booklet for the NPT RevCon. (See here for more information on the workshop)

On Thursday (May 6th), the UN Secretary-General attended a meeting entitled “Advancing Nuclear Disarmament: The Power of Parliaments”, organized by PNND and the Inter-Parliamentary Union. As Global Coordinator of PNND, Alyn Ware has been working closely with Secretary-General Ban on this issue. The Secretary-General underlined the importance of lawmakers in advancing the nuclear abolition cause. “Lawmakers are experts in enacting and upholding the rule of law,” he said, “and their voices must stay at the heart of the debate.” As an organization that works closely with lawmakers in order to spread good policies, the WFC welcomes this statement of support.

Contact Rob van Riet for more information.