From the NPT to the UN General Assembly: Filling the legal gap to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons
A roundtable event with governments, parliamentary representatives and policy experts to discuss nuclear disarmament proposals in preparation for the 70th session of the UN General Assembly in September-October 2015.
Geneva, 1 September 2015, 13:15-18:00
Sponsored by Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, Middle Powers Initiative, Basel Peace Office and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Geneva
Supported by the Right Livelihood Award Foundation and World Future Council
Despite the failure of the 2015 NPT Review Conference, some real gains were made during the four weeks of negotiations. There were a number of initiatives and proposals in the Draft Final Report of the Chairman of the 1st Committee (May 15) and the NPT 2015 draft final document (May 21) that had either general agreement or widespread support by NPT Parties.
These included reference to the humanitarian imperative to achieve nuclear disarmament, and various options to establish the legal framework for the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons, which were outlined in a New Agenda Coalition working paper. The Draft Final Report of the Chairman of the 1st Committee also included a recommendation for mutually reinforcing building blocks that could be realized simultaneously. Many of these were outlined in the NPT working paper Building blocks for a world without nuclear weapons.
The NPT 2015 Draft Final Document also included a recommendation that the UN General Assembly establish an Open Ended Working Group to identify and elaborate effective measures for the full implementation of Article VI of the NPT, including legal provisions required to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world.
However, many delegations at the 2015 NPT Review Conference highlighted security issues, including regional conflicts, which need to be considered in order to relinquish reliance on nuclear weapons and to prohibit and eliminate them. The recent re-affirming and strengthening of nuclear threat postures between Russia and NATO/USA reinforce the point that security issues are an important consideration. On the other hand, the success of the Iran negotiations demonstrates that nuclear-related conflicts can be resolved, and that this can support nuclear non-proliferation and assist nuclear disarmament.
The Framework Forum, established in 2011, brings governments and disarmament experts together in a round-table format to consider practical measures to establish the legal and political framework for a nuclear weapon free world. This Framework Forum roundtable will discuss the proposal for an Open Ended Working Group and how it could relate to other forums/processes, outline the various options which the OEWG could consider in order to pave the way for negotiations, examine the security issues relating to nuclear deterrence and offer non-nuclear alternatives to address these issues.
Background documents: