In Mexico, Nobel Peace Laureates Call for Decisive Action to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons September 25, 2019
On September 19, Nobel Peace Prize Laureates gathered in Merida, Mexico for the 17th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates. By a vote of consensus, the assembled Nobel Laureates adopted a statement which emphasized the urgent need to prevent nuclear war. They call on world leaders to take “decisive action” to eliminate the danger of nuclear weapons, and they referenced the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as a way to do just that. “The TPNW, in a long overdue step, finally places the world’s worst weapons on the same legal footing as chemical and biological weapons… declaring them illegal on the grounds of their unacceptable humanitarian consequences.” The Laureates acknowledged the resistance that nuclear-armed countries have shown towards the TPNW, and offered their support for efforts, like the Back from the Brink initiative in the United States, which aim to bring about fundamental policy change from within the nuclear-armed nations.