Statement at the opening of Working Group I on Nuclear Weapons
at the United Nations Disarmament Commission
During the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
New York, 3 April 2024
Mr. Chair,
Congratulations on your election as chair of this Working Group. You have the full support of my Delegation in carrying out this important work.
As conflict continues to rage across the globe, the world has heard increasingly threatening rhetoric concerning the use of nuclear weapons. In response, it is vital that such rhetoric is rejected as abhorrent and unacceptable in all circumstances. As Pope Francis underlines “peace and international stability are incompatible with attempts to build upon the fear of mutual destruction or the threat of total annihilation. They can be achieved only on the basis of a global ethic of solidarity and cooperation in the service of a future shaped by interdependence and shared responsibility in the whole human family of today and tomorrow”.[1]
At this critical juncture, progress thus far achieved on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation has stalled and in some cases is reversing. Amidst these challenges, it is all the more vital that States present in this Working Group recommit to dialogue, the only means by which consensus on “Recommendations for achieving the objective of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons” can be reached.
Such recommendations should include the imperative of universalizing the treaties upon which the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime is anchored, in complementarity, namely the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). This progressive and complementary governance of nuclear weapons mirrors the ever-growing public consciousness of the fact that “the use of nuclear weapons, as well as their mere possession, is immoral […]. Possession leads easily to threats of their use, becoming a sort of “blackmail” that should be repugnant to the consciences of humanity.”[2]
The TPNW, in particular, continues to provide a means for advancing disarmament commitments, including those found in Article VI of the NPT. In this regard, the outcome of the Second Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW offers a framework for moving towards a world free from nuclear weapons and for assisting victims and remediating environments affected by their use and testing.
It is the hope of the Delegation of the Holy See that such concepts can be incorporated within the Recommendations, alongside measures that aim to prevent the outbreak of nuclear war and to reduce nuclear risk. While such measures do not offer a substitute for nuclear disarmament, they have the potential to reduce ongoing and potential human suffering caused by nuclear weapons. As recognized by the General Assembly, “the responsibility to address the harms resulting from a detonation of using or testing a nuclear weapon […] lies, respectively, with the Members States that have done so”.[3]
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
[1] Pope Francis, Address on Nuclear Weapons, Nagasaki, 24 November 2019.
[2] Pope Francis, Message to His Excellency Ambassador Alexander Kmentt, President of the First Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, 21 June 2022.
[3] A/RES/78/240.
