Global nuclear-test ban urgently needed for safer, more secure world: UN officials

Addressing a meeting to mark the International Day against Nuclear Tests, observed annually on 29 August, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted the devastation caused by nuclear testing.

“I have witnessed the lasting societal, environmental and economic damage nuclear tests have caused,” he told the gathering.

He added, “Since the first test in New Mexico 70 years ago, the world has endured over 2,000 nuclear tests. Those tests devastated pristine environments and local populations around the world.

“Many have never recovered from the legacies of nuclear testing – including poisoned groundwater, cancer, birth defects and radioactive fallout,” Ban continued.

He added, “Today let us also send a strong signal that the international community stands united to take action that will lead us to a safer and more secure world – a world free of nuclear weapons.”

The Secretary-General said that the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), which was adopted in 1996, was an essential building block for achieving this goal as a legally-binding, verifiable means by which to constrain the quantitative and qualitative development of nuclear weapons.

Stressing that the Treaty must enter into force in order to be truly effective, Ban called on all remaining States to sign and ratify the instrument, including China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, and the United States.

The importance of the CTBT was also highlighted by the President of the General Assembly, Sam Kutesa, who underscored the need for a world free of nuclear testing.

“Nuclear tests and weapons constitute an existential threat to humanity and contradict some of the fundamental principles of the United Nations,” he said.

“In its current session, the General Assembly reiterated its firm commitment to the Treaty,” said Kutesa. “I would like to use this occasion to stress the importance and urgency of realizing the CTBT’s entry into force without further delay.”

The Acting High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Kim Won-soo, emphasized the need to universalize the norm against nuclear testing.

“It is true that we live in an increasingly complex security environment,” said Kim.

He added, “Yet we cannot allow the security environment to prevent us from making progress on nuclear disarmament. We should remember the lessons of the Cold War when arms control agreements provided valuable lessons to reduce strategic tension.

“We cannot delay in taking the path to nuclear disarmament,” he continued.

He added, “We must act with urgency to reach our goal of zero nuclear weapons. And we must do so with a sense of compromise and our common responsibility to rid the world of these devastating weapons.”

Photo: UN Photo/Rick Bajornas