Discussion with Béatrice Fihn, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)

Ms. Fihn,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

Two and a half (2 ½) minutes to midnight. That is the time on the ‘Doomsday Clock’ since the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the hands on the clock earlier this year. It is the closest to midnight the clock has been since 1953, when hydrogen bombs escalated the Cold War arms race. The clock is closer to midnight today – that is, nuclear catastrophe – than it has ever been in the lifetime of almost everyone in this room.

Against this menacing backdrop, it is a particular honour for me to welcome Ms. Béatrice Fihn, the Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. We are grateful to the Club Diplomatique de Genève for convening this timely event on a topic that is particularly close to my heart.

The use of nuclear weapons should be unthinkable. Yet tensions escalate, anxieties deepen, proliferation accelerates – but disarmament is paralyzed.

We know that the horrific humanitarian and environmental consequences of the use of nuclear weapons would transcend national borders. We know that a world free of nuclear weapons is a global vision that requires a global response.

- This is why – from the very first General Assembly resolution in 1946 to the recently negotiated Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons – nuclear disarmament has been a foundational objective for the United Nations.

- This is why every single country has a responsibility to contribute towards the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons. The nuclear-weapon states have a special responsibility to lead.

- This is why the campaign to end nuclear weapons should not be left to governments alone. Civil society actors must make themselves heard.

- And this, finally, is why ICAN is such a critical partner in this effort – and a truly worthy recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. ICAN has elevated the voice of civil society across 100 countries. It has created new momentum and opened up new pathways.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is fitting that we meet in Geneva – a major and growing nexus for these conversations, home to a range of disarmament bodies, scientific research centres, and civil society organisations, notably ICAN itself. From Geneva, they are incubating creative thinking about disarmament challenges and drive the global debate forward.

It is even more fitting that we meet in this very room of the Palais – the Council Chamber – which since the League of Nations has served as the venue for historic negotiations. From the Geneva Summit at the height of the Cold War, to the Non-Proliferation Treaty negotiations in the 1960s, and finally, the many meetings of the Conference for Disarmament which continue to the present day. The solution to defusing the nuclear threat must be political. This room is a fitting testament to that insight.

Let me once again congratulate ICAN for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. I am confident this will instil new vigour and direction in the disarmament debate, particularly since the prize has also strongly validated the important role of civil society in our collective efforts to make our world a safer place.

Thank you again for being here with us today – and special thanks as well to the Club Diplomatique for kindly inviting us for a reception after our discussion.

Thank you!