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A nuclear-weapon-ban treaty is a proposed international agreement to prohibit the development, production, testing, acquisition, stockpiling, transfer, deployment, threat of use and use of nuclear weapons. On 23 December 2016, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution establishing a mandate for negotiating such a treaty. The negotiations are scheduled to take place in New York in March, June and July 2017.
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Concept
A nuclear-weapon-ban treaty, according to its proponents, would constitute an "unambiguous political commitment" to achieve and maintain a nuclear-weapon-free world. However, unlike a comprehensive "nuclear weapons convention", it would not contain all of the legal and technical measures required to reach the point of elimination. Such provisions would be the subject of subsequent negotiations, allowing the initial agreement to be concluded relatively quickly and, if necessary, without the involvement of nuclear-armed nations.
Proponents of a ban treaty believe that such an agreement would help "stigmatize" nuclear weapons, and serve as a "catalyst" for elimination. Around two-thirds of the world's nations have pledged to work together "to fill the legal gap" in the existing international regime governing nuclear weapons, and view a nuclear-weapon-ban treaty as one option for achieving this objective.
Nuclear weapons — unlike chemical weapons, biological weapons, anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions — have not yet been prohibited in a comprehensive and universal manner. The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968 contains only partial prohibitions, and nuclear-weapon-free zone treaties prohibit nuclear weapons only within certain geographical regions.
Background
Proposals for a nuclear-weapon-ban treaty first emerged following a review conference of the NPT in 2010, at which the five nuclear-armed states parties — the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China — rejected calls for the start of negotiations on a comprehensive nuclear weapons convention. Disarmament advocates proposed the ban treaty as an alternative pathway forward.
The convening of three major intergovernmental conferences in 2013 and 2014 on the "humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons", in Norway, Mexico and Austria, strengthened the international resolve to outlaw nuclear weapons. The second such conference, in Mexico in February 2014, concluded that the prohibition of a certain type of weapon typically precedes, and stimulates, its elimination.
In 2014 a group of non-nuclear-armed nations known as the New Agenda Coalition (NAC) presented the idea of a nuclear-weapon-ban treaty to NPT states parties as a possible "effective measure" to implement Article VI of the NPT, which requires all states parties to pursue negotiations in good faith for nuclear disarmament. The NAC argued that a ban treaty would operate "alongside" and "in support of" the NPT.
In 2015 the UN General Assembly established a working group with a mandate to address "concrete effective legal measures, legal provisions and norms" for attaining and maintaining a nuclear-weapon-free world. In August 2016, it adopted a report recommending negotiations in 2017 on a "legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination".
In October 2016, the First Committee of the UN General Assembly acted upon this recommendation by adopting a resolution that establishes a mandate for nuclear-weapon-ban treaty negotiations in 2017 (with 123 states voting in favour and 38 against, and 16 abstaining). A second, confirmatory vote will take place in a plenary session of the General Assembly in December 2016.
Positions
Leading proponents of a nuclear-weapon-ban treaty include Austria, Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa and Thailand. All 54 nations of Africa, all 33 nations of Latin America and the Caribbean and all 10 nations of Southeast Asia subscribe to common regional positions supporting the start of negotiations on a ban treaty. Many Pacific island nations are also supportive.
No nuclear-armed nation has expressed support for a ban treaty, and a number of them, including the United States and Russia, have expressed opposition. Many of the non-nuclear-armed members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), along with Australia and Japan, are also resistant to a ban treaty, as they believe that US nuclear weapons enhance their security.
Civil society
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, a coalition of non-governmental organizations, is the main civil society actor working alongside governments to promote a strong and effective ban treaty. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement has also championed an agreement to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons, describing the UN working group recommendation to negotiate a ban in 2017 as "potentially historic".
Parliamentarians
Several hundred parliamentarians around the world have signed an appeal calling for a ban treaty, describing it as "necessary, feasible and increasingly urgent". In May 2016 the Dutch parliament adopted a motion urging the government to work for "an international ban on nuclear weapons". Earlier in 2016, a majority of Norwegian parliamentarians signalled their support for a ban.
Opinion polls
Recent opinion polls in a number of nations have shown strong public support for a ban.