4 February 2010
UK launch of ICNND report on eliminating nuclear threats

UNA-UK played a key role in the UK parliamentary launch of the report of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament – ‘Eliminating Nuclear Threats: A Practical Agenda for Global Policymakers’.

The launch, on 4 February, was co-convened by the United Nations APPG, for which UNA-UK acts as the Secretariat, the APPG on Global Security and Non-Proliferation and the Top Level Group of UK Parliamentarians for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and Non-proliferation.

UNA-UK’s Chair, Lord Hannay of Chiswick, chaired the meeting with presentations by Gareth Evans, Co-Chair of the Commission, and Baroness Shirley Williams, UK Commissioner and Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on nuclear proliferation issues. Their contributions were followed by questions from the floor.

Mr Evans, a former Australian Foreign Minister, outlined the comprehensive approach to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament which is detailed in the report, summarising the short-, medium- and long-term proposals made by the Commission, including the urgent need for both a shift in nuclear doctrine, and the need to give momentum to a multilateral process. He stated that when you consider the nature of the nuclear threat, it is impossible for the international community to be complacent. “The status quo is not acceptable. It is only through sheer dumb luck that the world has avoided a serious nuclear catastrophe in the last 60 years.”

Baroness Williams explained that in progress on nuclear issues, “the roadblock is likely to be political”, citing, as an example, the potential difficulties President Obama faces in gaining Senate approval for the ratification of the START Follow-on Treaty. She emphasised the need for cross-party consensus on the issue in all nations, in addition to the need to mobilise the international community at all levels.

Commenting on the meeting, Lord Hannay said: “Gareth Evans and Shirley Williams have given us a master class on the urgent need to push forward with multilateral nuclear disarmament and with strengthening non-proliferation policies. They made a technical and complex phased approach sound common sense and politically realistic.”

Read the full report on the ICNND website - www.icnnd.org/reference/reports/ent/index.html

Notes:
The International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament is a joint initiative of the Australian and Japanese Governments, whose stated aim is to reinvigorate international efforts on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, in the context of both the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, and beyond.

Shirley Williams is a UK Commissioner for the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, and is adviser to the Prime Minister on nuclear proliferation issues.

Gareth Evans is Co-Chair of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, and a former Foreign Minister in the Australian Government. He initiated the Canberra Commission (1996), was a member of the UN High-level Panel (2004), Blix Commission (2006), Zedillo Commission on the IAEA (2008), and was President (2000-09) and is now President Emeritus of the International Crisis Group.