Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty

The 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty requires nuclear-armed countries party to the treaty to negotiate nuclear disarmament. However, all nine nuclear-armed countries are working to significantly upgrade and expand their nuclear arsenals. A twenty-first-century nuclear arms race obstructs progress toward disarmament and significantly increases the risks of a nuclear catastrophe.

Without the treaty, the nuclear-armed countries’ dangerous arms race has no end in sight.

1. The TPNW fills the legal gap in international humanitarian law.

All other weapons of mass destruction, including biological and chemical weapons, cluster munitions, and landmines, have been sharply curtailed following a categorical ban introduced by the international community. Unlike the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the TPNW prohibits the possession of nuclear weapons and applies a universal standard to all countries.

2. The TPNW creates international norms that delegitimize nuclear weapons.

A comprehensive prohibition against nuclear weapons stigmatizes nuclear weapons as weapons of mass destruction that are inconceivable as tools of “security.” Once the norm against nuclear weapons becomes universalized, the TPNW will renew pressure on nuclear-armed countries by underscoring their existing disarmament obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

• Comprehensively bans nuclear weapons and related activities.
• Bans any assistance with prohibited acts.
• Creates a path for nuclear-armed countries to join the treaty and eliminate their weapons.
• Creates verification mechanisms to ensure countries comply with the treaty. The treaty requires that the destruction of nuclear weapons and programs is verifiable, time-bound, transparent, and irreversible.
• Requires victim and international assistance and environmental remediation.

Ban, Stigmatize, Eliminate:

Outlawing nuclear weapons undercuts the political currents that sustain them. A ban creates international norms that stigmatize nuclear weapons. Further, the treaty fills existing legal gaps including expanding the scope of prohibited activities while applying a universal standard to all countries.

Read our resource, “Convincing nuclear-armed countries to take the path to total elimination of nuclear weapons” by Jeremy Cotton, to find out more

The TPNW opened for signature at the United Nations on September 20, 2017. On October 24, 2020, Honduras was the 50th nation to ratify the TPNW, triggering Entry Into Force on January 22, 2021. On January 15, 2024, São Tomé and Príncipe became the latest state to ratify the treaty, becoming the 70th state party to do so. The treaty now has a total of 93 signatories.