Ministry Statements & Speeches:
Thank you Mr President,
1. I take the floor on behalf of the New Agenda Coalition: Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, South Africa and my own country, New Zealand.
2. We speak today, alarmed at recent international developments that have brought the world closer to nuclear catastrophe. It is not lost on us that we deliver this statement in a forum that is mandated to negotiate nuclear disarmament, but which has been unable to conduct those negotiations, or indeed implement a programme of work, for almost three decades.
3. We are witnessing explicit and implicit threats of nuclear weapons use; the lack of compliance with, erosion and dismantling of treaty regimes; the risk of the resumption of nuclear testing; the disregard of negative security assurances; nuclear stockpiles expanding; and, nuclear modernisation programmes being rolled-out, which point towards an indefinite possession of nuclear weapons. Each of these developments is heightening the risk of nuclear conflict, and undermining confidence in the stability and effectiveness of the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime, which is centred on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
4. We are concerned that the salience of nuclear weapons is increasing. Plans by the nuclear-weapon States and States under extended nuclear security guarantees to maintain or increase the role of nuclear weapons in security doctrines, including with regard to the placement of nuclear weapons on the territory of non-nuclear-weapon States, is further contributing to the erosion of the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime.
5. After decades of decline, the global stockpile of operational nuclear warheads appears to be rising once again. According to SIPRI estimates, 2,000 still remain in a state of high operational alert. The nuclear-weapon States need to demonstrate measurable progress to advance implementation of Article VI and its related commitments. Not doing so is further undermining the NPT. This runs deeper than a failure by all States since 2010 to agree new disarmament commitments, something that we continue to call for as a matter of priority.
6. Current conflicts, including in the Middle East and Europe, as well as heightened tensions in North East and South Asia, are detrimental for international security. These developments make our world more divided, and multilateral gains even more difficult to achieve.
7. Consequently, more States are resorting primarily to individual solutions to safeguard their national security. Taken together, these arrangements only breed more mistrust and insecurity, and contribute to the detriment of the international rules-based architecture built over decades to enhance collective security.
8. We fear that the international community may be sleepwalking into disaster. In the face of this, we urge all states to redouble their commitment to nuclear disarmament across all multilateral fora and instruments, whether that is in the Conference on Disarmament, in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, or in other related instruments such as the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
10. Enhanced transparency by the nuclear-weapon States with regard to their nuclear weapons capabilities, and implementation of their Article VI obligations and related commitments, is urgently needed. As recognized by a majority of States parties during the first meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the 2026 NPT Review Conference, enhanced transparency and accountability would strengthen the review process. Accordingly, we urge all nuclear-weapon States to implement their nuclear disarmament obligations and commitments in a manner that strengthens accountability, that enables States parties to regularly monitor progress, and that facilitates the evidence-based evaluation of progress towards the full implementation of Article VI.
11. All States that have not yet joined the Non-Proliferation Treaty must do so as non-nuclear weapon States without further delay or preconditions.
12. President, the longer the nuclear-weapon States rely on arguments that suggest the strategic context is not conducive for disarmament, the more dangerous that context becomes. History has demonstrated that times of international tension, like now, are precisely when multilateralism, arms control and nuclear disarmament measures have proven most useful. Nuclear-weapon States need to commit to ending this ever-more dangerous state of affairs through fulfilling their disarmament obligations and commitments.
13. In recent years, new ground-breaking research into the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons has been published.
14. This research clearly shows that nuclear war would be a catastrophe that could potentially cascade all the way up to the collapse of human civilization. This risk will remain so long as nuclear weapons do.
15. The risk of nuclear war is real. Any claims to be able to manage that risk are illusory, not least because they posit a level of control over the many variables that contribute to the risk of nuclear weapons that simply does not exist. And such claims fail to acknowledge that, at times in the past, it was mere good luck that nuclear use was averted.
16. The non-nuclear weapon States have long faithfully implemented their non-proliferation obligations. The nuclear-weapon States must also live up to their end of the NPT’s ’Grand Bargain’. We expect them to demonstrate the necessary political will to return to negotiations.
I thank you.