January 22, 2024 marks the third anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Sixty-nine countries have ratified the Treaty so far, with additional countries undertaking that process this year. The TPNW currently has ninety-two signatory countries.
The Treaty’s rising membership reflects a growing consensus among most of the world’s countries that the extreme threat nuclear weapons pose to all humanity is intolerable.
Second Meeting of States Parties Held in New York
Between November 27 and December 1, 2023, more than ninety countries participated at the United Nations in New York in the Second Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW, either as states parties that have ratified the Treaty or as observers. They engaged in urgent, consequential and robust debate during the week, adopting both a political declaration and package of decisions.
One highlight of the meeting was the agreement that the theory of deterrence, long an underpinning/excuse of nuclear policy in the U.S. and other nuclear-armed countries, was itself a problem. The meeting participants exhorted countries and non-governmental organizations alike to “challenge the security paradigm based on nuclear deterrence,” while calling attention to “new scientific evidence about the humanitarian consequences and risks of nuclear weapons.” The new research presented at the meeting included the cascading effects of nuclear use on the world’s food supplies as well as on its energy and financial systems.
The meeting also focused on communities affected by nuclear weapons, hearing testimonies from those who have been (and are) directly impacted by the use, testing and development of nuclear weapons. Included was a joint statement endorsed by 26 nuclear affected community-led organizations, and supported by a further 45 allied organizations that stated, “We have the right and responsibility to speak about what nuclear weapons really do… We call on States Parties to the TPNW to push relentlessly for its universalization.”
We agree, and we say: It’s time the U.S. gets on the right side of history (and morality) and joins the TPNW.
Acting Locally to Promote the TPNW
In Livermore, we will celebrate the 3rd anniversary of the TPNW’s entry into force on Monday, January 22 from Noon to 1PM at the Livermore Lab West Gate.
We have lots of 8-foot banners to hold in the lawn area in front of the nuclear weapons lab where workers and others can read the positive messages.
Can you hold one of them to support the TPNW and the abolition of nuclear weapons? Would you like to bring celebratory noisemakers? How about a camera to take pics for social media?
You are also invited to participate in a public reading of select provisions of the TPNW. And, perhaps, singing may break out at the end of the short program.
If you would like to bring a guitar or other musical instrument please do, but check the weather, as there is a chance of occasional sprinkles on the 22nd.
Please see our flyer below with TPNW event details
