Research Fellow Dr Ana Alecsandru and Project Officer Jack Crawford are representing the Royal United Services Institute at the first Meeting of States Parties (MSP) to the TPNW.
The First Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) is being held at the Austria Centre Vienna in Vienna from 21 – 23 June 2022.
The TPNW entered into force on 22 January 2021 – the first multilateral nuclear disarmament treaty in more than two decades. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called the Treaty “an important step towards the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons and a strong demonstration of support for multilateral approaches to nuclear disarmament.”
The TPNW contains, inter alia, a comprehensive set of prohibitions on participating in any nuclear weapon-related activities. This includes undertakings not to develop, test, produce, acquire, possess, stockpile, use or threaten to use nuclear weapons. The Treaty also prohibits the deployment of nuclear weapons on national territory as well as the provision of assistance to any State in the conduct of prohibited activities. The TPNW requires States parties to assist individuals under their jurisdiction affected by the use or testing of nuclear weapons, as well as to take environmental remediation measures in areas under their jurisdiction or control that have been contaminated due to the testing or use of nuclear weapons.
At the First Meeting of States Parties, States parties will examine the Treaty’s implementation and measure progress towards its goals.
More information, including the agenda for the MSP, can be found here.
