Chair,
PrepCom is to make substantive recommendations to RevCon. To that end, and as promised in the general debate, we will make as practical interventions as possible. We have six points.
First, transparency is an essential feature of the NPT, and a key enabler for accountability. We believe that this PrepCom should recommend that RevCon allocate time for an interactive presentation and debate on each of the national reports of the five Nuclear-Weapon States. The NWS have a special status and responsibility under the NPT. The interactive debate would promote transparency and provide an effective format to hold the NWS to account. This would also provide us with a useful opportunity to consider the adequacy of the current reporting format. We believe RevCon should allocate time for this discussion in Subsidiary Body 1.
Second, the PrepCom and RevCon alike should recommend that all states – especially the Annex 2 states – sign and ratify the CTBT. The absence of testing is an essential contribution to the irreversible disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Third, elaborating the three core principles of nuclear disarmament – that is: verification, irreversibility and transparency – should be given priority and separate meeting time at the RevCon as well as in the next Review Cycle. Previous RevCons have repeatedly acknowledged their indispensability to sustainable nuclear disarmament and a world without nuclear weapons.
Work on nuclear disarmament verification has shown that progress on disarmament is possible, through two very successful Group of Governmental Experts and ongoing UN-led consultations on a Group of Scientific and Technical Experts on nuclear disarmament verification.
Transparency has been a fixture in our work for years. Irreversibility is historically less well explored but is gaining increasing attention. There is an intimate relationship between the three principles. Discussing disarmament in the abstract has limited utility. These three principles offer us a practical approach to disarmament: to envision concretely what a disarmament process could look like, and what components it could have.
Also, by working on these components now, we set the table for action once the window of opportunity for disarmament agreements opens.
Fourth, PrepCom should recommend that RevCon start by picking the lowest-hanging fruit of them all: a simple reaffirmation of previous commitments. It would be to state the obvious, because these commitments did of course not come with an expiry date. It would nevertheless provide some useful starting points and a positive impulse to our work in these tense times.
Fifth, PrepCom should encourage NWS to take active and practical steps to reduce nuclear risks. Nuclear risk reduction is not a precondition for disarmament, but it can help ensure that we have a tomorrow in which disarmament can take place. Dialogue among the NWS is essential in this regard.
PrepCom should express an expectation that the NPT NWS continue to engage in active, regular and results-oriented dialogue. We appreciate efforts from France, the UK and the US to promote dialogue on risk reduction and strategic stability, and China’s efforts in facilitating the P5-dialogue.
Closely related to this, our sixth and final point is that PrepCom should recommend that RevCon reaffirm the catastrophic humanitarian consequences that would ensue from any use of nuclear weapons.
That is, after all, the core reason why we all deeply care for and want nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.
Thank you.