Second Meeting of Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Begins in New York

By Yasushi Kaneko / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

16:35 JST, November 28, 2023

NEW YORK — The second Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons kicked off Monday at the U.N. headquarters in New York. The treaty bans the use, possession and other activities regarding nuclear weapons

The aim of the meeting is to gain momentum toward nuclear disarmament amid rising tensions over nuclear arms such as concerns that Russia could use them in its aggression against Ukraine and that China is increasing its nuclear capabilities.

At the first meeting in Vienna in June last year, participants adopted the Vienna Declaration, which calls for achieving a world without nuclear weapons, and an action plan to scrap nuclear arms.

In line with the declaration and action plan, the five-day meeting will discuss steps toward eliminating nuclear weapons and promoting participation by parties that have not ratified the treaty. Participants are expected to adopt a final document and report on Dec. 1, the final day.

The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will deliver speeches, and atomic bomb survivors are scheduled to speak in a related event.

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted at the United Nations in 2017 under the leadership of countries that are frustrated over the failure by nuclear powers to fulfill their obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, or NPT, to faithfully conduct nuclear disarmament negotiations. It went into force in 2021.

The treaty has been signed by 93 countries and regions, and ratified by 69 of them.