Entry into Force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
Global catastrophic risk mitigated
Climate change
Weapons of Mass Destruction
The threat from new and emerging technology
Risk multiplier managed
Conflict or political violence
Institutions that lack inclusivity or accountability
Poverty and inequality
Implementation timeframe
Short term
We are working to achieve the necessary 50 ratifications for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons to enter into force and become legally binding for all states-parties.
Implementation strategy

ICAN is working with governments to achieve the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons through sensitization and education, direct lobbying and convening regional stakeholder meetings with interested states. While 122 states voted in favor of the adoption of the treaty in July 2017, additional work is required for those states to sign and ratify the treaty. Nuclear-armed states, which oppose the treaty, pressure other governments not to sign it. Even for those who are engaged and interested in signing, the signature and ratification process can take time. These obstacles can be, and have been, overcome with the help of persistent ICAN campaigners, who guide diplomats through the ratification process and provide materials to counter the arguments against the treaty planted by nuclear-armed states.

Our activities will include:

• Meetings with government officials in capitals and ambassadors in New York and Geneva to stress the importance of prompt ratification.

• Outreach to other relevant stakeholders, including members of parliamentary foreign affairs committees that are charged with reviewing the treaty.

• The dissemination of technical papers and other briefing materials to assist governments with their ratification processes.

• The convening of workshops to build regional support and momentum for entry into force and to enhance the capacity of our campaigners.

• Advocacy in the margins of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference in April and May in New York.

• A major campaign for ratifications in August around the anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

• The convening of a high-level ceremony at UN headquarters in September 2020 for further signatures and ratifications.

• Online meetings for campaigners to coordinate outreach and enhance their understanding of the technical requirements of signature and ratification.

• A social media campaign to count down the number of ratifications needed for entry into force.

Political will exists to realise this proposal

The overwhelming majority of the world’s nations support banning nuclear weapons, as evidenced by the 122 countries that voted for the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in July 2017. We are nearing entry into force of the treaty with 34 ratifications (as of January 8, 2020), two-thirds of the necessary ratifications for the treaty to enter into force.

What if political will does not exist yet

There is still work to be done to encourage and support states to finalise their signature and ratification processes, which we are working to realise. We have been steadily working with states to finish their signature and ratification processes and expect to reach 50 ratifications in the course of 2020 and entry into force of the treaty (90 days after the 50th instrument of ratification is deposited).

Realisation by implementing or making adjustments to current roadmaps

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Decision makers and implementers

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Why is this a long term proposal

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Mitigating climate change

Nuclear weapons pose a grave threat to our climate. Since the 1980s, scientists have consistently documented that a nuclear war would have catastrophic effects on the climate. A 2019 study by leading climate scientists and other scientists published in Science Advances, "Rapidly expanding nuclear arsenals in Pakistan and India portend regional and global catastrophe," demonstrates the impact of a modern nuclear war on the climate.

The study models a scenario where Pakistan uses 150 nuclear weapons and India uses 100 weapons on urban targets, and the two countries use an additional 85 weapons on non-urban targets over the course of one week and shows:
 Smoke from the fires would trigger massive climate disruption, reducing surface sunlight by 20 to 35% and abruptly decreasing global land temperatures by 4-8˚C.
 Precipitation would be reduced from 15 to 30% globally, with even more severe regional variations: while the US Northeast and Midwest could lose up to 50% of their rainfall, rainfall would practically cease over India and Central China.
 It would take more than a decade for temperatures and precipitation to return to normal.
 The decrease in sunlight and precipitation would severely disrupt net primary production, and thereby the entire global food chain. Two billion people would be at risk of famine.

These extreme climate conditions would exacerbate the harmful impacts of climate change and lead to increased resource scarcity. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons seeks to prevent this nightmare scenario and in Article 6 it explicitly requires that states-parties help to remediate land contaminated by nuclear weapons use and testing.

Mitigating weapons of mass destruction

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is a normative tool to promote the elimination of nuclear weapons by creating the legal prohibition against these weapons and to increase the stigma against them. Every new signature and ratification helps to increase the stigma and to lead to the total elimination of nuclear weapons. Once the TPNW enters into force it will become legally binding international law for its states-parties which will grow the stigma against them and help prevent any future acquisition, possession or use.

Furthermore, as soon as the treaty enters into force, its Article 6 positive obligations will become legally binding, meaning that victims of nuclear weapons use and testing will receive appropriate assistance to help remediate the harm caused by nuclear weapons.

Mitigating the threat from new and emerging technology

There is mounting concern among experts that the risk of nuclear weapon use will be aggravated by the increasing application of artificial intelligence in the military domain, as well as advancing offensive cyber capabilities. By controlling nuclear weapons, we also seek to control the threat of emerging technology being developed to amplify the threat of nuclear weapons.

Alleviating poverty and inequality

Eliminating nuclear weapons would also lead to the elimination of nuclear weapons spending. The United States is projected to spend 1.7 trillion USD on its nuclear weapons over the next 30 years. Inflated military budgets steal from needed public welfare programs to address poverty and inequality in all nuclear-armed countries.

Enhancing inclusivity and accountability in national and global governance

For too long, many countries that would be impacted by nuclear weapon use have been excluded from the conversation about them. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons recognised that all countries have an important voice and perspective on nuclear weapons. It is helping to equalise a conversation that has been dominated by a handful of countries to one that is internationally inclusive.

Reducing conflict and political violence

Nuclear weapons escalate the possible scale of conflict and have increased the danger and risk in numerous conventional conflicts in the past. By seeking to eliminate nuclear weapons, the TPNW helps to prevent the possibility of a conflict of an unimaginable scale.

Additional information

In 2020, ICAN and its partner organisations around the world will work with like-minded governments to secure the 16 further ratifications needed for entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Achieving this goal in 2020 will be especially symbolic, as it is the 75th anniversary year of the founding of the United Nations and of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which claimed a quarter of a million lives.

We will work to achieve entry into force by engaging persistently with around 100 governments that we have assessed as most likely to ratify the treaty in the foreseeable future. These are principally the governments that have signed the treaty and/or voted in favour of its adoption in 2017.

Our activities will include:

• Meetings with government officials in capitals and ambassadors in New York and Geneva to stress the importance of prompt ratification.

• Outreach to other relevant stakeholders, including members of parliamentary foreign affairs committees that are charged with reviewing the treaty.

• The dissemination of technical papers and other briefing materials to assist governments with their ratification processes.

• The convening of workshops to build regional support and momentum for entry into force and to enhance the capacity of our campaigners.

• Advocacy in the margins of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference in April and May in New York.

• A major campaign for ratifications in August around the anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

• The convening of a high-level ceremony at UN headquarters in September 2020 for further signatures and ratifications.

• Online meetings for campaigners to coordinate outreach and enhance their understanding of the technical requirements of signature and ratification.

• A social media campaign to count down the number of ratifications needed for entry into force.


Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Overview:

On 7 July 2017 – following a decade of advocacy by ICAN, like-minded governments and its partners – an overwhelming majority of the world’s nations adopted a landmark global agreement to ban nuclear weapons, known officially as the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. It will enter into legal force once 50 nations have signed and ratified it.

Prior to the treaty’s adoption, nuclear weapons were the only weapons of mass destruction not subject to a comprehensive ban, despite their catastrophic, widespread and persistent humanitarian and environmental consequences. The new agreement fills a significant gap in international law.

It prohibits nations 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 any of these activities.

A nation that possesses nuclear weapons may join the treaty, so long as it agrees to destroy them in accordance with a legally binding, time-bound plan. Similarly, a nation that hosts another nation’s nuclear weapons on its territory may join, so long as it agrees to remove them by a specified deadline.

Nations are obliged to provide assistance to all victims of the use and testing of nuclear weapons and to take measures for the remediation of contaminated environments. The preamble acknowledges the harm suffered as a result of nuclear weapons, including the disproportionate impact on women and girls, and on indigenous peoples around the world.

The treaty was negotiated at the United Nations headquarters in New York in March, June and July 2017, with the participation of more than 135 nations, as well as members of civil society. It was adopted on 7 July 2017 and opened for signature on 20 September 2017. It is permanent in nature and will be legally binding on those nations that join it.

Full text of the treaty: https://www.icanw.org/full_text_of_the_treaty.

Please see our Campaigner Guide to TPNW Signature and Ratification for more information on how campaigners can help their governments to join the treaty : https://www.icanw.org/campaigner_guide_to_tpnw_signature_and_ratification.

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