Hi Friend --

No matter what else happened this year, 2021 was always going to be a milestone for our movement, after the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into force on Jan 22, 2021, making nuclear weapons finally illegal under international law. That in itself is an achievement that was many decades in the making.

But of course we could not stop there.

Throughout this year, ICAN campaigners have achieved incredible successes that have increased the impact of this treaty and built up the stigma against these weapons of mass destruction. To name a few:

• 127 financial institutions stopped investing in companies producing nuclear weapons in 2021, with many institutions citing the treaty’s entry into force and the risk of a negative public perception as reasons for the change in their investment policies.
• Norway and Germany announced that they will attend the TPNW’s first Meeting of States Parties as observers, making them the first NATO states (and in Germany’s case, a nuclear weapon-hosting state) to break through the nuclear-armed states’ pressure against the Treaty.
• Welcoming the 8 new states parties that have joined the treaty, and helping many other states that are so far along their domestic process we know they will be joining in the coming months!
• New York City calling on the US government to join the treaty - and on its Comptroller to divest the public pension funds from companies tied to nuclear weapons.

You can learn more about these victories (and many others) here!

As 2021 wraps up, I want to thank you, and all of our incredible campaigners, for all that we have achieved together. Throughout the year, we have had so many reasons to celebrate, and we’ve used each victory as another opportunity to pressure dawdling governments to deliver on their citizens’ expectations of a world free of nuclear weapons.

I also want to encourage you to get excited for the next big milestone: the first Meeting of States Parties in Vienna, in March 2022. Just three months from now, the countries that have joined the treaty will be meeting for the first time to discuss some of the treaty’s technical details and commit to concrete steps to meet their obligations.

ICAN is incredibly proud to be there as the civil society coordinators, and we cannot wait to share what happens there with you. As you may know, we are trying to raise $40,000 by the end of this year so we can put the software, equipment and people in place to bring the world to Vienna, and the meetings in Vienna to you, no matter what the pandemic throws at us. We want to provide unique ways for people around the world to participate in both ICAN events and the UN conference on the TPNW so that no matter what, we will make sure you know what's going on in Vienna, and that your voices are heard where decisions are made. Will you help us make that possible? You can make your contribution here. 

Thank you for all that you do. 

Kind regards,

Daniel Högsta
Campaign Coordinator
ICAN

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