United Nations: International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons

Statement delivered by Permanent Representative, H.E. Carolyn Schwalger

President,

New Zealand remains a staunch advocate for the total elimination of nuclear weapons.

We trace our commitment to this cause back to the period of sustained nuclear testing by nuclear powers in the Pacific.

This nuclear testing caused long-term and serious harm - harm which continues to be felt today by people in the Pacific. In response, our region established the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone, a symbol of our unequivocal rejection of these weapons.

Today, the risks of nuclear weapons, including explicit and implicit threats of their use as well as the risk of proliferation, have reached levels not seen since the depths of the Cold War. To cite the UN Secretary-General, humanity sits on a knife's edge. In the face of this, we register again our disappointment that the Pact for the Future was not more ambitious and urgent.

On this International Day, New Zealand asks four things:

1. For those States that possess or rely on nuclear weapons for their security to take tangible action towards nuclear disarmament;
2. For all States to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), as the clearest rejection possible of nuclear weapons;
3. For those States outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to renounce their weapons and join the treaty as non-nuclear weapon States; and
4. For those States that have not signed or ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), to do so without further delay.

New Zealand is proud to contribute to this International Day's goal of raising public awareness about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons and the need for their total elimination. Together with Ireland, we are running a resolution at this year's UN General Assembly First Committee session to mandate a new global study on the possible effects of nuclear war. This will utilise up-to-date science and data modelling to advance our shared understanding, raise public awareness and - importantly - be an area of work that we can unite around. We count on your support.

I take this opportunity to thank the UN Secretary-General and his High Representative for Disarmament Affairs for their leadership on nuclear disarmament, as well as the tireless commitment of civil society and other stakeholders.

Greater cooperation on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation is sorely needed. Progress on disarmament cannot be deferred any longer, whatever other challenges we are facing. New Zealand stands ready to work with all others in support of our shared goal of nuclear disarmament and a world without nuclear weapons.

Thank you.

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