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Hello Friend
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We are excited. With 47 ratifications, the
UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) is really close
to reaching a crucial milestone: 50 ratifications, which will lead to
its entry into force 90 days later!
But what happens then, and what does
“entry into force” actually mean? International treaties can be
complicated, even for the people who work in this field, so we totally
understand if it’s a lot to take in. Here are the 3 main things you
need to know:
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Entry into force means that all countries that have ratified
(or acceded to) the treaty will be bound by it, and have to
implement and abide by their new legal prohibitions and obligations.
For the TPNW, this happens 90 days after the 50th country ratifies the
treaty.
From that moment, the states parties to the treaty are
not just forbidden from carrying out any activities related to nuclear
weapons, but also have to take active steps like adopting the
necessary laws at the national level, assisting victims of nuclear use
and testing, and cleaning up nuclear contamination. 
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The countries that haven’t joined the treaty will feel its
impact too. Treaties are powerful tools to change behaviour,
as we know from previous weapons bans on landmines and cluster
munitions. In the months and years to come, you can expect companies
to stop producing the prohibited weapons, and financial institutions -
like banks, insurers or pension funds - pull their investments out of
producing companies.
We’re seeing this happen for the TPNW
even before it enters into force; major banks and pension funds have excluded nuclear
weapons from their investment policies since the treaty was
adopted!
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This is when we ramp up the work of changing norms and
behaviours. Whether it’s smoking indoors, land-mines or
nuclear weapons, having a ban is powerful: it makes those behaviours
clearly unacceptable and puts a stigma on those that continue to
engage in them.
But it won’t happen overnight, and we’ll need
to build it up together. ICAN campaigners will still need to keep up
the pressure on elected representatives and companies, and we will
need you to be loud and outspoken in raising awareness about the
treaty and increasing pressure at home in those countries that haven’t
joined the treaty yet.
We know there’s a lot to take in. We’re
going to break it all down even further over the coming weeks. On
October 28th, we’ll be inviting friends of the
campaign to explain what’s going on in a short series of conversations
on instagram. Make sure you’re following @nuclearban to join ICAN’s Instagram Law
School!
And of course, make sure you’re following
us to get updates on how the treaty is doing. Because the answer to
your last burning question “when will we reach that 50-state mark?” is
that we honestly don’t know, but we think it’s coming soon! With Tuvalu’s ratification last week, we only
need three more ratifications. We’re working around the clock
to make those happen as soon as possible, and we’ll keep you
posted.
Stay tuned.
Sincerely,
Alicia Sanders-Zakre
Policy and
Research Coordinator
ICAN
PS
- If you want to dive even deeper into the legal
nitty-gritty, you can download our briefing paper on entry into force, or get
ready to tackle common myths & misconceptions about the TPNW and
nuclear disarmament ahead of the big day, with our handy Q&A booklet.
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