New initiative launched for Nuclear Abolition Day 2025
Yesterday (August 29) at the United Nations in Geneva, a group of civil society organizations launched NuclearAbolitionDay.org, a platform for civil society actions and events to commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons (‘Nuclear Abolition Day’).
Nuclear Abolition Day has been observed annually on September 26 since 2013, when it was established by the United Nations General Assembly to enhance public awareness and education about the threat posed to humanity and the planet by nuclear weapons and the necessity for their total elimination. The day serves to mobilize international efforts towards achieving the common goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world.
September 26 is also the anniversary of an incident in 1983 when nuclear war “by accident” was narrowly avoided. “Colonel Stanislav Petrov, Duty Officer at a Russian nuclear early warning facility, broke protocol by not affirming to senior command an apparent incoming ballistic missile attack from the United States, which was later confirmed as a false alarm” reports Marc Finaud, Vice-President of Initiatives pour le désarmement nucléaire, one of the organizations jointly launching the new initiative. “Today, like in 1983, there are high tensions and armed conflicts involving nuclear armed States, most of whom have nuclear forces on high levels of readiness to be used. It is imperative for them to stand down their nuclear forces and adopt policies never to initiate a nuclear war.”
“The objective of the UN in establishing the day is laudable,” says Chris Guillot, co-founder of AwareNearth, another of the organizations jointly launching the new initiative. “However, the lack of engagement and good faith actions by UN Member States on nuclear disarmament is not just disappointing – it’s a dangerous failure. We must shift our mindset on nuclear risk now, for the sake of future generations.”
The NuclearAbolitionDay.org initiative, which is open for any anyone to join, encourages individuals and organizations around the world to join an action or event on the day, and calls on governments to announce concrete plans at the UN High Level Meeting on September 26 to prevent any use of nuclear weapons, and to achieve the global elimination of nuclear weapons no later than 2045.
“Nuclear Weapon States are urged to meet their obligations under international law to pursue negotiations in good faith on nuclear disarmament. The latter was significantly strengthened by the unanimous disposition of the 1996 International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion, which held that there exists an obligation to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion, negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control,” notes Dr. Deepshikha Kumari Vijh, Executive Director of the Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy.
“Nuclear armed and allied States can’t avoid the nuclear disarmament obligation on the excuse that they need nuclear weapons for security,” says Alyn Ware, International Representative of Aotearoa Lawyers for Peace and Director of the Basel Peace Office. “In order to fulfill this obligation, they are required to meet their security needs in other ways, including in accordance with the UN Charter which prohibits the threat or use of force.”
“There are a number of pathways to reaching the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons,” says Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director of Western States Legal Foundation. “But the nuclear-armed States and their allies must commit to ending reliance on the ever-more-dangerous doctrine of nuclear deterrence – the threatened use of nuclear weapons – as the basis for their national security. They could do this by negotiating a comprehensive and inclusive nuclear-weapons-convention similar to the Chemical Weapons Convention. Or they could start with a framework agreement on nuclear disarmament and fill in the details of the implementation mechanisms later. Or they could negotiate protocols that would enable them to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Under any of these pathways, the elimination of nuclear weapons no later than 2045 is imperative and is feasible. We urge individuals and organizations to endorse our Joint Appeal to governments to make this happen.”
The initiative also launches a joint social media action Stop Nuclear Weapons: Peace is in our Hands to promote the day and the call to governments. Between now and September 26, and especially on Nuclear Abolition Day itself, individuals and organizations are encouraged to use their hands in symbolic and/or cooperative ways to promote nuclear disarmament - or use the NuclearAbolitionDay.org graphic depicting the classic nuclear disarmament logo inside the palm of a hand. Photos or videos of these will be uploaded for social media promotion.
Natia Ninoshvili, Program Officer, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament (PNND), elaborates that “through simple and symbolic actions, we can amplify a collective message: civic engagement and youth participation are essential to achieve a nuclear weapons-free world. Our social media initiative invites people from around the world to take part and send a clear message to take steps forward for nuclear disarmament.”
The action is taken in cooperation with the Not One Nuclear Explosion initiative organised by Youth4Disarmament, a project of the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs (UNODA). "Nuclear weapons have returned to the centre of national security strategies and are being brandished as tools of coercion," Ms Izumi Nakamitsu, Head of UNODA, told the 11th General Conference of Mayors for Peace in Nagasaki on August 9. "Peace and security cannot be achieved through an arms race," but must be built on "dialogue, diplomacy, confidence building, transparency, and arms control and reduction."
In New York on September 26 there will be special commemoration events building public awareness through a multimedia interactive action that bridges art and advocacy. Rebecca Shoot, PNND’s Senior Advisor and the Co-Convener of the ImPact Coalition on Strengthening International Judicial Institutions, explains: “There is a stark dissonance between the rapid ticking of the Doomsday Clock closer than ever to midnight and the number of nuclear armed and allied States engaged in armed conflict with a retreat in the collective conscience and consciousness of the existential threat posed by nuclear weapons. Our joint actions in New York aim to close this gap – especially for younger generations for whom the specter of nuclear war may not be felt as acutely.”
The NuclearAbolitionDay.org initiative was launched today at a special event at the United Nations commemorating the International Day Against Nuclear Tests.
“Global nuclear testing has enabled the manufacture of weapons systems involving the planned death of hundreds of millions of human beings,” reflects General Bernard Norlain, Former Air Defense Commander and Air Combat Commander of the French Air Force and a speaker at the launch event. “It has also directly caused the deaths of nearly 2.5 million people living near test sites and led to radioactive fallout on a global scale…. We must strongly denounce the nuclear arms race in which nuclear-armed countries and their allies are engaged.”
“I believe we can plant the seeds of a future – where might is not measured in missiles, but in the strength of institutions that deliver justice, freedom, and opportunity... In democracies free of corruption… societies free of want...and the next generation, free of fear," said Michael Douglas, UN Messenger for Peace and a supporter of the NuclearAbolitionDay initiative, addressing the Speakers of the World’s Parliaments at the UN in Geneva. “Let us tell our story, expand our movement, and hope that together, we can create that future. There isn’t a moment to lose.”
Additional quotes from representatives of organizations participating in the NuclearAbolitionDay.org initiative