Introduction

Adopted by an overwhelming majority of UN member states at the United Nations on 7 July 2017 and entered into force on 22 January 2021, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) is a legally binding instrument that comprehensively prohibits participation in any nuclear weapon activities, including the development, testing, production, acquisition, possession, stockpiling, use, or threat to use nuclear weapons [1]. The TPNW has since been ratified by 65 countries, including four ratifications within the past week by Cape Verde, Grenada, Timor-Leste, and Guatemala, officially establishing Central America as the first entire contiguous region to deposit instruments of ratification. As echoed by Mr. Alvin Botes of South Africa, Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, the ultimate goal of the TPNW and the States Parties signatory to it is “a world free of nuclear weapons” [2].

 

Considering Article 8(2) of the TPNW which reads, “The first meeting of States Parties shall be convened by the Secretary General of the United Nations within one year of the entry into force of this Treaty” [3], and the feasibility of holding an international meeting in the midst of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, it was decided that the First Meeting of States Parties (1MSP) would be held from 21 to 23 June 2022 at the Austria Center Vienna. The 1MSP, which ICAN UN Liaison Seth Shelden suggested addresses the procedural side of prohibiting nuclear weapons, directly followed the Fourth Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons (HINW) in Vienna, which Shelden suggested addresses the substantive side of the actual arguments that led States to prohibit nuclear weapons [4]. It was the first three HINW conferences that ultimately led to the negotiation and adoption of the TPNW in 2017.

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As declared by President of the 1MSP on the TPNW Alexander Kmentt, the purpose of the 1MSP was to “strengthen our young Treaty, and to establish its implementation in the best and strongest way possible” [5]. The three-day agenda of the 1MSP therefore focused on adopting concrete rules and procedures, including establishing deadlines and transforming working papers on topics such as universality, victim assistance, and institutionalizing scientific advice into an Action Plan that guides countries on how to actually implement solutions to these substantive nuclear weapons issues.

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 In total, 49 States Parties were in attendance to the 1MSP and 34 States attended the 1MSP as observers, in addition to representatives from relevant civil society organizations and 85 non-governmental organizations that observed without the right to vote (see the Final Report for a breakdown of all delegations involved [6]). The three-day 1MSP successfully addressed all items on the Agenda and culminated in the adoption of a Final Report [7], a Declaration [8], and an Action Plan [9]. The Final Report is largely procedural; the Declaration is a condemnation against any use or threat to use nuclear weapons, reiterating the moral and ethical imperatives which inspired the TPNW and which guide its implementation; and the Action Plan is a set of 50 specific actions for actually implementing the TPNW and realizing the commitments made in the Declaration. 

 

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References:

1. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, United Nations General Assembly, 7 July 2017, https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N17/209/73/PDF/N1720973.pdf?OpenElement 

2. 1st Plenary Meeting of the First Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, UN Web TV, 21 June 2022, https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1s/k1sbslstum 

3. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, United Nations General Assembly, 7 July 2017, https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N17/209/73/PDF/N1720973.pdf?OpenElement 

4. Seth Shelden in MSP TV via ICAN, 21 June 2022 morning edition, https://vienna.icanw.org/msptv-by-ican 

5. 1st Plenary Meeting of the First Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, UN Web TV, 21 June 2022, https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1s/k1sbslstum

6. “Draft report of the first Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,” 22 June 2022, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/nuclear-weapon-ban/1msp/documents/draft-report.pdf 

7. Ibid.

8. “Draft Vienna Declaration of the 1st Meeting of States Parties of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,” 23 June 2022, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/nuclear-weapon-ban/1msp/documents/draft-declaration.pdf 

9. “Draft Vienna Action Plan,” 22 June 2022, https://documents.unoda.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/TPNW.MSP_.2022.CRP_.7-Draft-Action-Plan-new.pdf