MORE than 120 countries have approved the first treaty to ban nuclear weapons — but the UN meeting was boycotted by all nuclear-armed nations, including the UK.
To loud applause and cheers, Elayne Whyte Gomez, president of the UN conference that has been negotiating the legally binding treaty, announced the results of the “historic” vote — 122 nations in favour, the Netherlands opposed and Singapore abstaining.
“The world has been waiting for this legal norm for 70 years,” since the use of the first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 at the end of the Second World War, she said.
The treaty is “the first multilateral nuclear disarmament treaty to be concluded in more than 20 years”, Whyte Gomez said.
It will be opened for signatures in September and come into force when 50 countries have ratified it, she said.
In December, UN member states overwhelmingly approved a resolution calling for negotiations on a treaty that would outlaw nuclear weapons, despite strong opposition from nuclear-armed nations and their allies who refused to participate.
Whyte Gomez said 129 countries signed up to take part in drafting the treaty, which represents two-thirds of the 193 member states. But all nuclear states and Nato members boycotted the negotiations except for the Netherlands, which has US nuclear weapons on its territory and was urged by its parliament to send a delegation to the negotiations.
The treaty requires all ratifying countries “never under any circumstances to develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices”.
It also bans any transfer or use of nuclear weapons or nuclear explosive devices — and the threat to use such weapons.
Retired British Royal Navy Commander Rob Green, who flew nuclear strike aircraft and is now co-director of the Peace Foundation’s Disarmament and Security Centre, said earlier this week that “the heart of this treaty” is the prohibition on threatening to use nuclear weapons.
Richard Moyes, managing director of Article 36, a British-based organisation that works to prevent harm from nuclear and other weapons, said it is not plausible to think the world can maintain security based on mutually threatening to incinerate hundreds of thousands of people with nuclear weapons “when we know there have been near-misses, errors of judgment — there’s been accidents — and there’s a degree of instability in the political leadership in the world”.
None of the nine countries known or believed to possess nuclear weapons — the United States, Russia, the UK, China, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel — is supporting the treaty.
The US and other nuclear powers instead want to strengthen and reaffirm the near half-century-old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, considered the cornerstone of global nonproliferation efforts.
That pact sought to prevent the spread of atomic are beyond the five original weapons powers - the US, Russia, Britain, France and China.
It requires non-nuclear signatory nations to not pursue atomic weapons in exchange for a commitment by the five powers to move towards nuclear disarmament and to guarantee non-nuclear states access to peaceful nuclear technology for producing energy.
North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile tests, including its July 3 launch, have become a timely argument for proponents and opponents of the treaty to ban atomic weapons.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here