On 7 July 2017, 122 states voted in favour of a legally binding instrument banning nuclear weapons. Negotiated at a United Nations conference, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons makes the possession of these horrific weapons of mass destruction illegal, along with other related activities such as testing, using, developing, or assisting with nuclear weapons (which includes financing or planning to use the weapons, among other things). The treaty also includes provisions for assisting victims of nuclear weapons use and testing, and environmental remediation. It is the first treaty to recognise the disproportionate impact of nuclear weapons on indigenous people and on women.

Reaching this agreement is an amazing feat of collective action by people who came together to do something that had not been tried before. It is the result of decades of campaigning for the abolition of nuclear weapons by WILPF and other civil society organisations. Since 2007, WILPF has been part of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which has worked with governments, international organisations, academics, and activists to bring this ban to fruition. We worked to generate a renewed focus on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, which opened space for consideration of the most appropriate political and legal responses to the existence of nuclear weapons. 

As atomic bomb survivor Setsuko Thurlow said in her remarkable closing statement to the negotiating conference on 7 July, “This is the beginning of the end of nuclear weapons.” This treaty was conceived of as a tool that could help change the politics and economics of nuclear weapons as a means of facilitating disarmament. It provides a solid foundation to change policies and practices, as well as to shift the thinking and discourse on nuclear weapons even further.

Reaching Critical Will provided advocacy and daily analysis from the negotiations and has posted all relevant documents online. Check out some great videos from the conference on ICAN’s Vimeo page. You can also read RCW and ICAN’s writings at the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, and view photos on ICAN’s Flickr page.

What's next? The TPNW entered into force on 22 January 2021, after the ratification of the 50th state party was secured in October 2020. WILPF will continue to work with ICAN to encourage more states to sign and ratify the Treaty, to ensure its full implementation, and to promote the Treaty within states that have so far boycotted this process.

WILPF has long raised concerns with the humanitarian and environmental catastrophe caused by nuclear weapons. We have been part of efforts in the United States, Australia, and elsewhere to collect and disseminate information about the effects of nuclear weapon production, testing, and use.

Reaching Critical Will participated in the series of conferences on the humanitarian impacts of nuclear weapons hosted by Norway (2013), Mexico (2014), and Austria (2014). We coordinated and edited a global study on this subject ahead of the first conference in Norway, and we have since then supported activist colleagues in disseminating further work, including on the gendered impacts of nuclear weapons.

All of the nuclear-armed states are currently engaged in programmes to "modernise" - upgrade or refurbish - their nuclear arsenals. This includes the bombs, delivery systems (like missiles, aircraft, and submarines), as well as related facilities used in the production of nuclear weapons. Since 2010, Reaching Critical Will has published an annual study that explores in-depth the nuclear weapon modernisation programmes of China, France, India, Israel, Pakistan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and analyses the costs of nuclear weapons in the context of the economic crisis, austerity measures, and rising challenges in meeting human and environmental needs. The chapters are written by country experts with detailed knowledge of the programmes and their costs.