Advancing no-first-use in the wake of the ‘failed’ NPT Review Conference

Posted: 9th September 2022

On Friday August 26, after four weeks of deliberations, the 10th Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which was held at the United Nations in New York, concluded with no final agreement.

This was of course a disappointment to many of the States Parties to the NPT and to civil society organizations, including NoFirstUse Global members, who had been very active leading up to the Review Conference and at the conference itself.

But the result was not surprising. NPT final agreements are adopted by consensus. It was obvious from the start of the conference that the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has elevated the risk of nuclear war, as well as the serious risks of a nuclear catastrophe arising from the Russian militarization of the Zaporizhzya nuclear power plant in Ukraine, and other conflicts involving nuclear-weapon states, made the prospect of an agreed outcome remote if not impossible. With regard to the Russia/Ukraine war, most States Parties to the NPT felt obliged to condemn Russian actions, but Russia would not agree to such condemnation in any final document.

For more on this see NPT Review Conference ends without agreement: What next?

NPT Review Conference has impact, despite lack of agreement

The failure of an NPT Review Conference does not necessarily curtail progress on key issues and initiatives that are discussed during the conference. Sometimes, a failed conference provides additional impetus for these.

The 2015 NPT Review Conference is an example. The conference failed primarily over disagreement about how to advance/implement the commitment to establish a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and other WMD. This failure stimulated the main proponents to turn instead to the United Nations and set up a UN Conference on a Middle East Zone free from Nuclear Weapons and other WMD, which now convenes annually until it concludes a legally binding treaty.  

Another key issue of disagreement at the 2015 NPT Review Conference was a proposal to start negotiating a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons regardless of whether or not nuclear armed and allied states joined such negotiations. The lack of agreement in the NPT stimulated the proponents to reconvene the UN Open Ended Working Group on Taking Forward Multilateral Negotiations for Nuclear Disarmament, which led to negotiations and adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the United Nations in 2017.  

A session of the UN Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction. The UN Conference was established despite of – and possibly because of – failure of the 2015 NPT Review Conference. 

Nuclear risk reduction (including no-first-use) and the NPT Review Conference

Issues/initiatives at the 2022 NPT Review Conference that drew a lot of attention, possibly paving the way for action in other forums, included nuclear risk reduction, non-use of nuclear weapons in armed conflict, the adoption of no-first-use policies and negative security assurances.

The call for adoption of no-first-use policies, for example, found much stronger support than in previous NPT Review Conferences, and for the first time ever was included in the draft final document (up until the final few days). This was in large part due to the campaign activities of NoFirstUse Global, including the presentation to the NPT Review Conference of the Open Letter Fulfil the NPT: From nuclear threats to human security, campaigning in capitals and advocacy during the Review Conference.

In addition, informal discussions were held during the NPT Review Conference, on a proposed United Nations General Assembly resolution on reducing the threat of nuclear-weapons-use arising from armed conflicts including the Ukraine conflict.

UNFOLD ZERO, NoFirstUse Global and our partner organizations will use the momentum generated at the NPT Review Conference on these initiatives (and others) to make progress in the UNGA and other relevant forums. We encourage you to stay tuned and engaged in this.  

John Hallam, NoFirstUse Global, presenting the Open Letter Fulfill the NPT: From nuclear threats to human security, to a plenary of the NPT Review Conference. The call in the Open Letter for the adoption of no-first-use policies gained considerable support and traction at the Conference.

Public actions on nuclear risks and no-first-use policies

NoFirstUse Global, and many of our co-founding and participating organizations, are undertaking activities in follow-up to the NPT Review Conference to publicise the risks of a nuclear war and to encourage the adoption of no-first-use policies. These include public actions with the #3DNukeMissile.

This interactive art piece, commissioned by the World Future Council and managed together with Youth Fusion and the Basel Peace Office, can be unfolded in public locations. People are invited to have their photo taken while symbolically preventing the nuclear missile from launching by holding or standing on the chains which are restraining the missile.

NoFirstUse Global participating organizations promoting no-first-use through public actions with the #3DNukeMissile in Pontresina (Switzerland) and Caen (France) following the NPT Review Conference.Social media posts of the photos, along with background information, increase public awareness of where nuclear weapons are deployed, what are the risks of nuclear war, and what people can do to help reduce nuclear dangers and advance nuclear abolition.

Recent actions took place at the World Ethic Forum in Pontresina (Switzerland) and in front of the Caen Castle in Normandy (France).NoFirstUse Global is a network of organizations, academics, policy makers and civil society advocates working cooperatively for the adoption of no-first-use policies by nuclear-armed States, the support for such policies from nuclear allied countries, and the implementation of such policies to help achieve broader nuclear risk-reduction, non-proliferation and disarmament measures.