June 23, 2022

The following briefing note provides an overview of the Vienna Declaration and the main actions agreed at the first meeting of the signatory states to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, in the Vienna Action Plan adopted on 23 June 2022.

The statement

– The signatory states expressed and dismay at the threats of the use of nuclear weapons and unequivocally condemned “any nuclear threat, explicit or implicit in whatever circumstances it takes place”.

Affirming that the Treaty is more necessary than ever in these circumstances, the Statiri decided to “proceed with its implementation, in order to further stigmatize and de-legitimize nuclear weapons and to gradually build solid and imperative world legislation against their use. “.

The declaration reaffirms the humanitarian foundation of the Treaty and the moral, ethical and security imperatives that inspired and motivated its creation, which now guide and orient its implementation.

– The signatory states have decided to proceed with the implementation of all aspects of the Treaty, including the obligation to repair the damage caused by the use and testing of nuclear weapons.

-They also reaffirmed the complementarity of the Treaty with the disarmament and non-proliferation regime, in particular with the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT); they pledged to continue to support the NPT and all measures capable of effectively nuclear disarmament.

– The conclusion: “Faced with the catastrophic risks posed by nuclear weapons and in the interest of the very survival of humanity (…) we will not stop our commitment until the last state has acceded to the Treaty, the last warhead has been dismantled and destroyed and that nuclear weapons have been completely eliminated from the earth.

The accession of new states to the TPAN

Universalization, (Article 12), Actions 1-14

– States undertake to make universalization a priority and in particular:

– carrying out diplomatic visits to those countries that have not yet joined the TPAN (Action 3);

– appointing a government representative (contact point) responsible for this work within 60 days (Action 6);

– stressing the importance of the TPAN in declarations to the UN and encouraging more countries to submit the Treaty to UN General Assembly resolutions (Actions 8 and 9);

– coordinating with all interested partners, including ICAN (Action 13).

Elimination of nuclear weapons

Towards the elimination of nuclear weapons (Article 4), Actions 15-18

– States have agreed to set a 10-year deadline for the elimination of nuclear weapons when nuclear-armed states join the TPAN and 90 days for the withdrawal of weapons from host states when the latter join the Treaty.

– The states have agreed to continue the authorizations on the designation of the body that will be in charge of verifying nuclear disarmament (Action 15).

Assistance to victims, environmental remediation, international cooperation and assistance, (Articles 6 and 7), actions 19-32

– All States have taken steps to create an implementation framework and in particular to:

– ask closely the communities concerned at all stages and engage with civil society and the United Nations system (Actions 19 and 24)

– Establish a government representative (focal point) responsible for such work within 3 months and adopt any national law to implement it (Actions 21 and 22)

– guarantee the principles of accessibility, inclusion and non-discrimination in all sectors, as well as guarantee transparency and provide for some form of relationship (Actions 25 and 28)

Reflect on how to implement an international fund for this work (Action 29)

States that consider themselves affected by the use and testing of nuclear weapons have obtained:

– start to get into the impact of the use of nuclear weapons in their territories the second meeting (Action 30)

– devise a national plan to start helping people affected by the use or testing of nuclear weapons and environmental remediation by the second meeting (Action 31).

– Others also agreed to provide support, in particular technical and financial, and to states that got involved and harmed (Action 32).

Inclusion of civil society and the communities involved

Principles of inclusiveness and cooperation between stakeholders in the implementation of the Treaty, Actions 39-42

– In addition to transparent references to inclusion in all final documents, there is a specific section of actions aimed at ensuring that such work is inclusive and, in particular, with the following actions:

– strictly cooperate with the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Campaign for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons, academia, affected civilian communities and other societal organizations (Action 40);

– facilitating the active participation of interested parties, taking into account the different needs of the members of the affected community and of the individual members and ensuring that all signatory states take action (Action 41).

Progressive approach to gender and disarmament

Implementation of the provisions on gender equality of the TPAN, Actions 47-50

– The Vienna Action Plan commits states to realizing their commitment to

gender equality, in particular:

– appoint a gender focal point to coordinate the implementation of gender-related provisions (Action 48);

– from international assistance to ensure assistance that takes into account the age and gender of people affected by nuclear weapons use or experiments and to integrate the gender dimension cooperation and within 49 and 50).

boss the job

Decision on the establishment of an interdisciplinary structure for the implementation of the Treaty and additional aspects of the support for the implementation Implementation of the Treaty, Actions 43-45

– States have agreed to establish informal working groups to advance actions and a committee to coordinate them, which includes civil society and meets at least once a quarter.

– Informal working groups include:

– a group on universalization, co-chaired by South Africa and Malaysia;

– an on assistance to victims, the environmental remediation group; international cooperation and assistance, co-chaired by Kazakhstan and Kiribati;

– and a group on the implementation of Article 4, in particular on work related to the future designation of one or more competent international authorities, co-chaired by Mexico and New Zealand.

Collaboration with others and others

Decision for the institutionalization of a scientific and technical council for the effective implementation of the treaty (creation of a scientific advisory group), Actions 33-34.

– States have decided to create a scientific advisory group that:

– provide advice to signatory States and report regularly on the situation and evolution of the situation regarding nuclear weapons, the risks associated with nuclear weapons, the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, nuclear disarmament and related other related questions;

– comprises up to 15 members and takes into account the need for a full range of relevant fields of scientific and technological expertise, gender balance and fair geographical distribution.

TPAN’s relationship with the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime, Actions 35-38

States have agreed that the TPAN is based on a rich and diverse disarmament and non-proliferation architecture, which will help complement it and agree on some measures to highlight it, in particular:

– appoint an informal coordinator in charge of articulating the areas of cooperation between the TPAN and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) (Action 36)

– cooperate with other international bodies, such as the IAEA and the CTBTO, in order to

strengthen cooperation (Action 37)