Invitation to endorse the International Open Letter to the January 2022 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference

Posted: 11th November 2021

UNFOLD ZERO Newsletter

Fulfil the NPT: From nuclear threats to human security

From January 4-28, 2022, the States Parties to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) will meet in-person at the United Nations in New York for the 10th NPT Review Conference.

This is one of the most important inter-governmental events on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament to take place since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. 191 States are Parties to the NPT, including five of the nuclear armed States. The Treaty includes obligations on both nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament The NPT Review Conferences provide an opportunity to move governments to take action on implementing these obligations. The last NPT Review Conference was held in 2015. 

Civil society is normally present and active at NPT Review Conferences, but will be barred from in-person participation this time (see below). However, we can get our voices to the governments at the NPT Review Conference in other ways, such as through this Open Letter.
 

Endorse the Open Letter to the NPT

We encourage you to endorse Fulfil the NPT: From nuclear threats to human security, an Open Letter to the States Parties of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.

The Open Letter highlights that nuclear weapons threaten current and future generations, and it calls on the nuclear weapon States and others States Parties to the NPT to: 

• End the nuclear arms race;
• Phase out the role of nuclear weapons in security policies starting with no-first-use policies;
• Commit to a timeframe for the elimination of nuclear weapons;
• Shift budgets and public investments from the nuclear weapons industry to instead support public health, climate stabilization and sustainable development.

Endorse the Open Letter to the NPT Review Conference

Fulfil the NPT: From nuclear threats to human security
 

“Nuclear weapons threaten current and future generations. The security they may have provided in the 20th Century has no place in the world of today and tomorrow, which is struggling to address the COVID pandemic, stabilise the climate, resolve national and international conflicts in peaceful ways, protect cyberspace, and advance human security and the sustainable development goals.” 

“It is time to start phasing out the role of nuclear weapons in security doctrines and develop a practical plan to achieve the peace and security of a nuclear-weapon-free world.” 

Fulfil the NPT: From nuclear threats to human security
An Open Letter to the States Parties of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty

Civil society barred from in-person participation at this NPT Review Conference

On November 8, the United Nations announced that due to public health restrictions to deal with the pandemic, civil society representatives would most likely not be permitted to participate in-person at the NPT Review conference.

This makes other forms of civil society input – like virtual side events and this global appeal – much more important to ensure that civil society voices are heard by the governments.
 

About the Open Letter: Initial endorsers

The Open Letter was drafted by experts from NoFirstUse Global, a coalition of international civil society organizations. They will present the endorsed Open Letter to the nuclear-weapon States and other members of the NPT prior to the Review Conference in January 2022 as part of a range of advocacy efforts to ensure progress on this vital issue for current and future generations.

Initial endorsers of the appeal include Kathleen Burkinshaw (USA), Daughter of a Hiroshima Survivor; Commander Robert Forsyth (UK), Retired Royal Navy Nuclear Submarine Commander; Carlo Trezza (Italy), Former Italian Ambassador to the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva; Dr. Jacques Bordé (France), Vice-President of Pugwash France; Dr Sharon Gustafsson (Sweden), Member of the Swedish Physicians Against Nuclear War and Swedish Women for Peace; Kevin Martin (USA), President of Peace Action; Hon Matthew Robson (New Zealand), Former NZ Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control; Robin Lloyd(USA), Co-Chair, Disarm/End Wars Committee of the Womens International League for Peace and Freedom US; Dr. Abdul Hameed Nayyar (Pakistan), Retired Physicist; Carol Gilbert  (United States), International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Robin Collins(Canada) Co-Chair of the Canadian Network to Abolish Nuclear Weapons; Ambassador Thomas Graham  (USA), Head of the United States Delegation to the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference; Uta Zapf (Germany), Former Chair of the German Parliament Subcommittee on Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation; Dr. Vladimir Kozin(Russian Federation), Member, Russian Academy of Military Sciences; Rosemarie Pace (USA), Co-coordinator, Pax Christi New York State; Jan Hoekema  (Netherlands), President of Pugwash Netherlands, Mohamed Awad Aly (Egypt) Chairperson, Egyptian Green Party; Dr. Ikonomou Pantelis (Greece), Former International Nuclear Safeguards Inspector; Egwuatu Onyejelem(Nigeria), National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies; Général (ret) Francis Lenne(France), ICAN France and Mouvement de la Paix, and many more.Yours sincerely
UNFOLD ZERO