by Michael Niemann
On January 22, the world celebrated the fourth anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). To date, 73 countries have ratified the treaty, and it represents the world’s best chance to rid ourselves of the specter of nuclear war.
In early March, the signatories will meet for the 3rd Meeting of States Parties. Such meetings are designed to achieve a number of objectives. The primary one is the operationalization of the text of the treaty into actionable strategies. Much of that work happens in intersessional working groups throughout the year.
The Article 4 informal working group, for example, works on developing mechanisms for verification to be employed once a nuclear weapons state ratifies the treaty. Such verification is a crucial component of any step towards nuclear disarmament.
The Articles 6 & 7 informal working group addresses the important questions of victim assistance, environmental remediation, and international cooperation to achieve these goals. The production and maintenance of nuclear weapons is not a victimless process. Radiation poisoning, the wholesale poisoning of the land, mining of uranium, all these have and continue to occur. This working group focuses on how past victims can be compensated and how ruined landscapes can be decontaminated.
Most of us wish these processes would move at a faster pace, but the wheels of diplomacy turn slowly. The working groups attempt to cover a wide range of eventualities. The 3rd Meeting of the States Parties is the opportunity to report on what has been achieved over the past year.
To celebrate this even, The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) has designated the week of March 2 – 9 as Nuclear Ban Week 2025.
