Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

Tag: Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

  • ICAN Statement to the UN High Level Meeting on Nuclear Disarmament

    ICAN Statement to the UN High Level Meeting on Nuclear Disarmament

    I’m speaking today on behalf of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. With 532 partner organizations in 103 countries, we are a truly global movement. We were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 for our work with governments to bring to fruition the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

    We’re speaking here today as a voice of passion and persistence in the quest to make our world more secure, more just, and more equitable. For us, abolishing nuclear weapons is about preventing violence and promoting peace.

    Some say this is a dream, that we live in a time of uncertainty and change, that we can’t or shouldn’t try to eliminate nuclear weapons now. But when is there not uncertainty and change? It is the only constant in our world.

    What is true is that we live in a time where we spend more money developing new ways to kill each other than we do on saving each other from crises of health, housing, food security, and environmental degradation.

    What is also true is that after 73 years, we still live under the catastrophic threat of the atomic bomb.

    We should have solved this. We haven’t only because a small handful of governments say they have a “right” to these weapons to maintain “strategic stability”.

    It is neither strategic nor stable to deploy thousands of nuclear weapons, risking total annihilation of us all. It is neither strategic nor stable to spend billions of dollars on nuclear weapons when billions of people suffer from our global inability to meet basic human needs for all.

    And it is certainly neither strategic nor stable to reject and to undermine a treaty that prohibits these weapons.

    In July 2017, the most democratic body of the United Nations adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. 122 governments supported the Treaty then. Now, they are signing and ratifying it. Significant progress has been made towards its entry into force. More will join today, at a special ceremony here in the UN. If you haven’t yet joined, we encourage you to do so. If you can’t do it today, do it tomorrow. Every new signature and ratification builds momentum for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

    We know some of you are experiencing pressure not to sign or ratify this treaty, just as many of you were subjected to pressure not to support the development of the treaty, not to participate in negotiations, and not to vote for its adoption. The governments that espouse the “value” of the bomb don’t want this treaty to enter into force.

    This is because they already feel its power. They know what it means for their policies and practices of nuclear violence. It is already disrupting the financial flows needed to maintain the industry around nuclear weapons. Just today, ICAN campaigners visited BNP Paribas offices around the world to demand the bank divest from nuclear weapons.

    This treaty is about bolstering the rule of law and protecting humanity. No one is safe as long as nuclear weapons exist. The death and destruction they cause cut across border, across generations. They undermine the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. They undermine our commitments to preventing climate change, promoting peace and equality, and protecting human rights.

    This treaty is the new international standard on nuclear weapons. It compliments, but is not subordinate to, existing agreements aimed at controlling nuclear weapons. It goes further than any of these other instruments, making it clear that the possession of nuclear weapons is illegitimate, irresponsible, and illegal.

    We know there is more work to be done. We have proven, collectively, that we are not afraid of hard work. So to all those governments and activists listening: please keep at it. The world changes when people work together relentlessly to change it. Don’t give up. Stand strong, stand together, and make it clear that we are living in a new reality in which nuclear weapons are illegal and where the only option for any reasonable state is to reject and eliminate them.

    It’s time to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

    This statement was delivered by Ray Acheson on September 26, 2018.

  • Testimony in Support of California Assembly Joint Resolution 33

    Testimony in Support of California Assembly Joint Resolution 33

    I’d like to begin by thanking my Assemblymember, Monique Limon, for introducing this important resolution.

    My name is Rick Wayman. I’m the Deputy Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, a non-profit organization headquartered in Santa Barbara. On behalf of our 80,000 members worldwide, including over 10,000 here in California, I thank you for the opportunity to speak here today.

    Last year, I had the privilege of participating in the negotiations at the United Nations for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. As a partner organization of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, we share in the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize that was awarded for our work on this groundbreaking treaty.

    Right now, we have a federal government that is choosing to spend over $100,000 per minute for the next 30 years on nuclear weapons upgrades. But it’s not just dollars that we’re squandering. Nuclear weapons are, simply put, indiscriminate mass killing devices. Any use would be illegitimate and wholly unacceptable.

    California has a long and proud history of setting positive legislative trends and kick-starting the process of change nationwide. That is why AJR 33 is so important today.

    This resolution lays out some of the catastrophic humanitarian consequences that could occur should nuclear weapons be used again. I have worked closely with people around the world deeply impacted by nuclear weapons development, testing, and use. Every one of them tells me the same thing: we must put an end to nuclear weapons so that no one ever suffers this same fate.

    The Assembly and Senate of the State of California now have a unique opportunity to contribute to this noble goal.

    For 50 years, the United States has been a part of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This treaty has been remarkably successful at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons to additional countries. But it has failed to compel the nuclear-armed nations to fulfill their obligation to negotiate in good faith for an end to the nuclear arms race and for nuclear disarmament.

    The 122 nations that voted in favor of adopting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons last year at the United Nations were complying with their obligation to act. The US was shamefully hostile to this process. The vast majority of the world’s countries are moving forward to outlaw and stigmatize nuclear weapons possession, and the US is being left behind. This emerging legal norm against nuclear weapons will only get stronger. California, followed by the entire United States, must get on the right side of history. But more importantly, we must do everything in our power to eliminate nuclear weapons before they eliminate us.

    Thank you.

    Rick Wayman delivered these opening remarks at a hearing at the California State Capitol on August 14, 2018.

     

  • Testimony in Support of AJR 33

    Testimony in Support of AJR 33

    Good morning. I am Marylia Kelley, the Executive Director for Tri-Valley CAREs. We are a Livermore, CA-based nonprofit organization with 5,700 members. Tri-Valley CAREs has monitored nuclear weapons activities at California’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for 35 years. We are unique in that our membership includes scientists and engineers from the Lab, which is one of two locations where all U.S. nuclear weapons are designed.

    Tri-Valley CAREs is a partner in key coalitions including the International Coalition for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 for its efforts to achieve the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

    I had the honor of participating at the United Nation in negotiations for the TPNW last summer. The Treaty makes clear that nuclear weapons pose horrific humanitarian and environmental consequences that are legally and morally unacceptable under all circumstances.

    The Treaty was overwhelmingly adopted by 122 states parties last year, putting the vast majority of the countries of the world on record – speaking in a single voice – that nuclear weapons are no longer acceptable.

    This is how societal patterns are changed – and how national behaviors are changed over time.

    By voting to pass AJR 33, this committee becomes an integral part of the global shift to public safety based on a nuclear weapons free world for our children and all who come after us.

    It is right, timely and thrilling to me as a Californian that my state is poised to take a principled position to help ensure that nuclear weapons are never again used, that the international TPNW is supported, and that the elimination of nuclear weapons occurs at the earliest possible date.

    Thank you, Assembly member Limon for introducing AJR 33, and thank you members of the Committee on Public Safety for considering this Resolution – and for inviting me to speak this morning before your most important vote.

  • Draft City of Santa Barbara Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Resolution

    Draft City of Santa Barbara Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Resolution

    This is a draft resolution for the Santa Barbara City Council. The final resolution may differ slightly. To sign the petition in support of this resolution, click here.

    WHEREAS, global nuclear arsenals contain some 15,000 nuclear weapons, with more than 90 percent of these in the arsenals of the U.S. and Russia; and

    WHEREAS, the United States government, as a major producer and deployer of nuclear weapons, should take the lead in the global renunciation of nuclear arms and the elimination of the threat of impending devastation; and

    WHEREAS, a large-scale nuclear war would kill hundreds of millions of people directly and cause unimaginable environmental damage, producing conditions in which the vast majority of the human race would starve and could become extinct as a species; and

    WHEREAS, the policy of nuclear deterrence relied on by the U.S. government is based upon an unproven and unprovable hypothesis regarding human behavior, and is subject to catastrophic failure; and

    WHEREAS, the projected expenditure of more than $1.2 trillion to enhance the U.S. nuclear arsenal will exacerbate these dangers by fueling a global arms race and will divert crucial resources needed to assure the well-being of the American people; and

    WHEREAS, the failure of the governments of nuclear-armed nations, including the U.S. government, to adequately reduce or eliminate the risk of devastating nuclear attacks requires that the people themselves, and their local elected representatives, take action; and

    WHEREAS, the expenditure of City of Santa Barbara (City) funds on goods and services produced by nuclear weapons makers, the investment of City funds in nuclear weapons makers, and the presence of nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons work within the City directly detracts from the maintenance of the City’s public health, safety, morals, economic well-being, and general welfare; and

    WHEREAS, the public morality is affronted by the expenditure and investment of City funds on goods or services produced by nuclear weapons makers and the presence of nuclear weapons or nuclear weapons work may ultimately lead to death and devastation; and

    WHEREAS, the emergency response services of the City will almost certainly be unable to secure the effects following a major fire, traffic accident, earthquake or similar disaster involving nuclear weapons, nuclear reactors or shipments of hazardous radioactive materials; and

    WHEREAS, the allocation of City resources in the form of police, fire, and other services to prepare for and contain the effects of an accident involving nuclear weapons, nuclear reactors, and shipments of hazardous radioactive materials diverts the City’s limited resources from urgently needed human services such as services for children, the elderly and disabled, shelter for the homeless, healthcare, education, and drug abatement; and

    WHEREAS, the United States and the residents of Santa Barbara, California would benefit from fully embracing this call for nuclear disarmament as the centerpiece of our national security policy; and

    WHEREAS, the City of Santa Barbara has adopted a Socially Responsible Investment Policy in 2017, which discourages investments, ‘in entities that manufacture, distribute or provide financing for tobacco products, weapons, military systems, nuclear power and fossil fuels.”

    WHEREAS, the future of today’s young people and generations to come will be disproportionately affected by the consequences of nuclear war and threats of war; and

    WHEREAS,  there is an alternative to this march towards nuclear catastrophe. In July 2017, 122 nations called for the banning of all nuclear weapons by adopting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,

    NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED,

    The City of Santa Barbara shall hereby be established as a Nuclear Free Zone, in which nuclear reactors and/or nuclear weapons work – including developing, testing, producing, manufacturing, otherwise acquiring, possessing or stockpiling them – is prohibited.

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED,

    • The City calls upon our federal leaders and our nation to spearhead a global effort to prevent nuclear war by:
      • renouncing the option of using nuclear weapons first;
      • ending the President’s sole, unchecked authority to launch a nuclear attack;
      • taking U.S. nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert;
      • canceling the plan to replace the entire U.S. arsenal with enhanced nuclear weapons;  
      • actively pursuing a verifiable agreement among nuclear-armed states to eliminate their nuclear arsenals; and
      • Encouraging the U.S. to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons; and
    • The City of Santa Barbara will inform the President of the United States, the United States Secretary of Defense and the Governor of California that the City is now a Nuclear Free Zone; and
    • The City will not invest resources or enter into contracts with businesses that are involved in nuclear weapons work.

    NUCLEAR FREE COMMEMORATION DAY

    Nuclear Free Zone Commemoration Day shall be observed annually within the City of Santa Barbara on September 26th, the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

    NUCLEAR FREE SANTA BARBARA COMMITTEE:

    Within 60 days of the effective date of this resolution, the mayor shall appoint, with the approval of the City Council, a non-partisan committee to oversee the implementation of and adherence to this resolution.