\u201cThere should be no place for these devices of death in our world,\u201d\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0UN\u00a0Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nuclear \u2018spectre\u2019 looming<\/strong><\/p>\n He warned, however, that \u201cnot since the worst days of the Cold War has the spectre of nuclear weapons cast such a dark shadow.\u201d<\/p>\n He said that \u201cnuclear sabre-rattling has reached a fever pitch\u201d and there have been threats to use a nuclear weapon, highlighting fears of a new arms race.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, decades-old norms established against the use, spread and testing of nuclear weapons are being eroded.<\/p>\n Learn from the past<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr. Guterres said the first-hand experience of the\u00a0hibakusha<\/em>\u00a0– the survivors of the atomic bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 – \u201cstand as clear reminders of where the nuclear path ends\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd yet, nearly 80 years later, nuclear-weapon States continue to roll the dice, resisting disarmament measures and believing that, somehow, our luck will never run out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Stop gambling with our future<\/strong><\/p>\n He appealed for these countries to \u201cstop gambling with humanity\u2019s future\u201d, starting with honouring their commitments and meeting their disarmament obligations.<\/p>\n \u201cUntil nuclear weapons are eliminated, these States should commit to never use them under any circumstances. And they must demonstrate the utmost transparency in all matters related to nuclear weapons,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Appeal to Russia and USA<\/strong><\/p>\n The Secretary-General also called on Russia and the United States \u201cto return to the process of nuclear arms reductions, with other nuclear-weapon States following in due course.\u201d<\/p>\n As \u201cdisarmament and non-proliferation are two sides of the same coin,\u201d countries must pursue both as a matter of urgency, he added.<\/p>\n He recalled that the recently concluded\u00a0Summit of the Future<\/a>\u00a0resulted in new international commitment to revitalize the global disarmament regime and to bring the world closer to the goal of total elimination of nuclear weapons, which the vast majority of UN Member States support.<\/p>\n \u201cThe time has come to take steps to ensure that a nuclear weapon is never used again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u2018Nuclear catastrophe\u2019 risk mounting: General Assembly President<\/strong><\/p>\n UN General Assembly President Phil\u00e9mon Yang lamented the current era of heightened nuclear risks.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are also observing a growing nexus between nuclear weapons and domains such as outer and cyber space, and technologies such as artificial intelligence, which are multiplying the danger of a nuclear catastrophe,\u201d he\u00a0said<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mr. Yang gave an overview of the breakdown in international efforts, including the failure to reach consensus at the 2022 conference to review the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT<\/a>).<\/p>\n The following year also saw Russia withdraw its ratification of the UN-backed Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT<\/a>), as well as the suspension of the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) between the country and the US.<\/p>\n \u201cNot only is the disarmament and non-proliferation regime being eroded, but the disarmament forums, which should be the venues for States to come together and elaborate solutions, are increasingly becoming venues for recriminations and consensus breaking,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n \u202fWarnings going unheard: Marshall Islands President\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The President of the Marshall Islands, Heidi Heine, spoke about her country\u2019s experience, history and current challenges with nuclear exposure.<\/p>\n From 1946 to 1958, while under a Strategic UN Trusteeship administered by the USA, the Pacific Island nation was subjected to 67 known atmospheric nuclear and thermonuclear weapons tests \u2013 \u201cthe equivalent of 1.6 Hiroshima shots, every day, for 12 years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Her relative, Dwight Heine, stood before the Trusteeship Council in 1954 and 1956 with a petition calling for an end to the tests, \u201cbut the cries of our people were brushed off, and the promises of our well-being made in two UN resolutions remain unmet – seven decades later.\u201d<\/p>\n President Heine said the Marshall Islands remain gravely concerned about the growing risk of proliferation and detonation, both globally and in the Pacific rim.<\/p>\n \u201cThe world is slipping backwards into deeper nuclear risk,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd again, decades later, in the very same room, our pleas and warnings on the consequences of nuclear detonation seem again unheard by those with their finger on the button.\u201d<\/p>\n Non-Aligned Movement demands urgent action<\/strong><\/p>\n Ugandan Foreign Minister Jeje Odongo Abubakhar spoke on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which has its roots in the Cold War era.<\/p>\n NAM\u2019s 121 members remain deeply concerned over the slow progress towards nuclear disarmament and the failure of nuclear weapons holders to eliminate their arsenals.<\/p>\n \u201cWe reaffirm the need for the nuclear-weapon States, which bear the primary responsibility for nuclear disarmament, to take urgent and concrete actions aimed at achieving this goal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Nuclear weapons have \u2018no constructive value\u2019: Libya<\/strong><\/p>\n The Acting Foreign Minister of Libya, Eltaher Salem Elbaour, reminded participants that his country decided to relinquish its nuclear weapons programme in 2003.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is because we believe that these are weapons of destruction have no constructive value,\u201d he said, expressing hope that other countries \u201cwill do what Libya, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Belarus have done.”<\/p>\n He voiced full support for all efforts towards establishing nuclear weapons-free zones around the world.<\/p>\n Implement existing commitments: US official\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Mallory Stewart, Assistant Secretary for the US Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence and Stability, noted that \u201cimportant strides\u201d have been made over the decades to establish norms, treaties and practices to prevent nuclear war.<\/p>\n These achievements are now at risk \u201cas some turn away from the tools that have held back the possibility of nuclear war, withdrawing from key agreements, rejecting dialogue and transparency, engaging in irresponsible nuclear rhetoric.\u201d<\/p>\n She said the international community must take steps to uphold the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and \u201cmove towards, not away from,\u201d the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), while also banning production of fissile material for use in nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must implement our existing commitments, including those under the\u00a0Outer Space Treaty<\/a>,\u201d she added, noting that a recent UN\u00a0Security Council<\/a>\u00a0resolution on the issue \u201cwas cynically vetoed\u201d.<\/p>\n Ms. Stewart said the US remains ready to engage constructively with Russia on bilateral arms control, and with China on concrete ways to reduce nuclear risks, however \u201cwe need each of these countries to demonstrate willingness to engage with us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.fie.undef.edu.ar\/ceptm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/image1170x530cropped2.jpg\")