Youth Response to the Failed 2022 NPT Review Conference
In our statement delivered to states parties at the Tenth Review Conference (RevCon) of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, our coalition of young people from across the globe demanded the international community to keep its promise of abolishing nuclear weapons and create a more peaceful world than the one we were born into. We wholeheartedly rejected the false narrative that nuclear weapons have ever made anyone safer, and testified to states parties that they do not have our consent to hang a grim nuclear umbrella over our heads, endangering us with the continued production, modernization, and maintenance of nuclear weapons. We told states parties that nuclear weapons are unequivocally one of the greatest moral stains on history, and that their immediate, universal, and irreversible abolition will be celebrated as one of the great achievements of our time—if only all states could be courageous and ambitious enough to achieve it. We reminded states that nuclear disarmament is at the crux of the intersecting crises we face today, from the climate crisis to armed violence, and that there is no such thing as a greener, fairer world where nuclear weapons still exist.
As representatives of the world’s youth, we found ourselves disappointed in the NPT Review Conference in more ways than one. The Russian Federation’s blocking of the adoption of a consensus-based final outcome document represented a politicized effort to shield itself from accountability and condemnation for its illegal war of aggression and illegal nuclear threats against Ukraine. But in fact, the entire review conference up to this point was characterized by the consistent efforts of the nuclear weapon states to evade or grossly re-interpret their legally binding commitments to disarmament. We reflect that the Russian war against Ukraine is not an isolated incident, but in line with historical narratives of domination and oppression, with nuclear weapons as facilitating and enabling tools. Nuclear weapons have always been the tools of oppression and terror—and none of the nuclear weapon states is exempt from this pattern.
We watched in frustration as each of the nuclear weapon states, aided by their allies who rely on nuclear weapons in their security doctrines, undermined the inclusion of language on humanitarian consequences and sought to restrict the conference’s acknowledgement of the recent development of a body of international law which unquestionably labels nuclear weapons as illegal. Reflecting on the rhetoric of the nuclear weapon states and their allies, we further found ourselves taken aback even by the way that these states spoke of the weapons themselves, which they seem to understand only in the abstract, as game-theoretic chess pieces rather than as the living artifacts, steeped in eugenics, of destructive uranium and plutonium mining and of the radioactive poisoning of millions of people around the world. The terms “weapon of mass destruction,” “war crime,” and “crime against humanity” were eerily missing from state delegations’ vocabulary. We were alarmed by the historical revisionism that some states showed in disregarding the dark legacy of nuclear colonialism. Several states appeared to believe that nuclear weapons have only ever been used at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. While it’s true that the inhumane bombings of these cities by the US in 1945 was the only time nuclear weapons were used in combat, during the era of nuclear colonialism all five nuclear weapons states carried out hundreds of nuclear weapons explosions with complete disregard for affected people, communities, and nations.
We ask you to understand that the difference between the “use” and “testing” of nuclear weapons is rhetorical in the lived experiences of Indigenous communities and peoples of, e.g., the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, French Polynesia, Algeria, and Kazakhstan, and the Navajo Nation in the US, as well as downwinders, who suffered and continue to suffer endemic rates of cancer and other radiogenic illnesses. We condemn the hypocrisy of the nuclear weapon states who point to Hiroshima and Nagasaki and congratulate themselves on learning their historical lesson. In fact, the real response of the nuclear weapon states to Hiroshima and Nagasaki has been to carry out systematic bombing programs in the homes of Indigenous populations—programs for which none of these states have provided adequate acknowledgement or repair. It was less than thirty years ago, for instance, that France detonated a nuclear explosion for the last time in Polynesia, and only twelve years ago that France initiated a farce victim assistance program that has rejected 97% of the claims it has received. But this history was not at all reflected in the remarks by nuclear weapon states at any point during the Review Conference. We remind you that the early abolition of nuclear weapons will depend on all of us insisting on historical truths about the use of nuclear weapons; to quote Dr. Zia Mian of Princeton University, “When we don’t tell stories about the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, the state steps in with its own narratives.”
Of equal importance, the nuclear weapon states should feel ashamed of perceived limitations on the participation of states in the Pacific due to fears of political retaliation. It has become clear to us, the youth, that the nuclear weapon states don’t only want to dominate the world order with their weapons, but seek monopolies when it comes to whose perspectives can matter at fora like the NPT Review Conference. We call on the nuclear weapon states to stop raising obstacles to democratic participation at international fora and to make themselves readily available to engage states in the Pacific and elsewhere that have suffered the impacts of their nuclear testing.
By the conference’s end, we were reawakened to the reality that institutions that confer legitimacy on nuclear weapons preclude their abolition. As young people, we want to see the NPT return to its original spirit of promoting disarmament rather than legitimizing the nuclear weapon states as such—but we also recognize the treaty’s inherent conservativeness and structural discrimination, and express our steadfast optimism for the future of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. In this vein, we would be remiss to ignore the leadership and moral courage shown by the TPNW states at the NPT Review Conference—especially Austria, Fiji, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, Ireland, Costa Rica, Kiribati, Kazakhstan, and the State of Palestine—who insisted on the illegality of nuclear weapons under international law, gave statements on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons and nuclear testing, and demonstrated their commitment to gender-inclusivity. Their contributions have shown us that there are states who care about working towards peace and security for the next generation and who are actively working to advance our common global goal of disarmament. The TPNW states parties inspire us to continue making our voices heard in all relevant disarmament fora.
We remain disappointed by the conference but not disillusioned. The youth of the world remain unwaveringly committed to nuclear weapons abolition for today and tomorrow. In view of the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons and the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly, we ask the nuclear weapon states to reverse course on the dangerous paths they are charting through their rhetoric, modernizations, and other escalatory behaviors, and to instead adapt the path to disarmament that we, the global youth, have outlined for them. We call on the nuclear weapon states to acknowledge, apologize for, and repair the ongoing consequences of their nuclear testing and uranium and plutonium mining. We insist that all states should sign and ratify the TPNW, and forcefully emphasize its compatibility with the NPT and with military alliances like NATO. We further ask states to use the upcoming G7 Summit in Hiroshima to advance the goal of the abolition of nuclear weapons. And we call on everyone who has a stake in disarmament to help us continue creating rigorous conversations about disarmament at all levels of public awareness, including education, media coverage, art, and the meaningful inclusion of youth and civil society in all decision-making processes.
Endorsing Organizations
DFG-VK (German Peace Society)
Reverse The Trend: Save Our People, Save Our Planet
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
KNOW NUKES TOKYO
KAKUWAKA Hiroshima
Peace Boat US
Peace Action New York State
Special thanks to Megan Lunny and Clarissa Neder for their work authoring this statement!
