Intensifying threat looms large as UN highlights the world’s growing nuclear arsenals

26 September marks the International Day which highlights the ongoing scourge of the nuclear arms race – an opportunity for the international community to reaffirm its commitment to nuclear disarmament.

Pledges to disarm, however, have yet to be honoured.

“Nuclear weapons continue to menace our world,” said the UN’s Chef de Cabinet Courtenay Rattray, delivering a statement on behalf of UN chief António Guterres: “And despite decades of promises, the threat is accelerating and evolving.”

Reminding the room of the devastation caused by the atomic bombing of Japan in 1945 by the US, he invoked the hibakusha, the survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki catastrophes 80 years ago, who have “turned their suffering into a call for peace.”

(Read our backgrounder on today’s conference)

‘Sleepwalking’ into proliferation

He warned, however, that we are “sleepwalking” into a more complex, unpredictable and even more dangerous nuclear arms race.

“New technologies and new domains of conflict have erased the margin for error,” said Mr. Rattray, referring to cyberspace and outer space, and technologies like hypersonic missiles and deep-sea drones which multiply the risks of escalation and miscalculation.

“This is not just a crisis of weapons. It is a crisis of memory, responsibility, and courage.”

New independent panel

To counter emerging threats, Mr. Rattray announced the formation of an independent scientific panel by the UN to assess the effects of nuclear war and ensure that the “collective response to nuclear risk is grounded in rigorous scientific evidence.

Pointing to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), an international legally binding agreement which aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, he said that there exist no “right” conditions for disarmament and that it “will never happen if we keep waiting.”

“Disarmament is not the reward for peace – it is the foundation of peace,” he stressed.

Countries ‘must honour their commitments’

Mr. Rattray asserted that nuclear states must return to dialogue, implement confidence-building measures and ensure nuclear warfare remains in human hands – not artificial intelligence-driven systems.

Addressing the plenary, he added that “State parties must also honour their commitments under the NPT.”

Further, he called on all states to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which prohibits nuclear testing, and urged the US and Russia to negotiate and reduce their nuclear arsenals.

“These steps alone will not build a world without nuclear weapons. But without them, we surrender our future to fear – and silence the promise of peace.”

Potential of nuclear technology to ‘serve humanity’

General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock warned of the “complex” dangers nuclear weapons pose, including the risk of them falling into terrorists’ hands or the rise of AI on the battlefield.

She stressed that treaties aren’t enough – unless states live up to them – and urged a “no first use” policy, as well as shifting resources from the arms race to climate action.

Ms. Baerbock encouraged the international community to think of how nuclear technology can “serve humanity constructively and safely,” such as in cancer treatment and environmental monitoring.

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