Take Action! Support the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and Encourage the Media to Cover It

While you may not be able to travel to Vienna, Austria for the First Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), you can sign the online Statement on the Existential Threat of Nuclear Weapons.  It supports the Treaty and encourages the media to include the Treaty in all nuclear weapons coverage.  The Nuclear Ban Treaty Collaborative created the Statement.  https://nuclearbantreaty.org/

To save you some time and pique your interest, the Statement’s text reads:

STATEMENT ON THE EXISTENTIAL THREAT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND ON THE TREATY ON THE PROHIBITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

“The power to initiate a global apocalypse lies in the hands of the leaders of nine nations.

“As 122 nations of the world indicated when they adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in July, 2017, this is unacceptable.

“As concerns about the threat of nuclear weapons re-enter the public consciousness, it is important to know that humankind is not without an answer to the nuclear threat.  The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which entered into force on January 22, 2021, provides a clear pathway to the elimination of the nuclear threat.

“We call on all nuclear armed states to take immediate steps to:

“engage the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,

“attend the First Meeting of States Parties, and

“sign, ratify and implement the Treaty.

“We also call on the US media to recognize the existence of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and to include the Treaty in discussions, articles, and editorials regarding the nuclear threat and methods available to address it.”

Already over 150 non-governmental organizations representing hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. as well as by hundreds of individuals have signed the Statement.  A full list can be found at https://nuclearbantreaty.org/ .  Join them!

Check out the KVOA News4Tucson coverage our colleagues at the Nuclear Resister received about their June 7, 2022 protest at the Raytheon facility in Tucson.  http://www.nukeresister.org/  Raytheon is manufacturing the Long-Range Stand Off Weapon (LRSO) – a nuclear-armed air-launched cruise missile.  Nuclear Resister organizers were protesting the building of the illegal LRSO nuclear weapon under the TPNW.    https://www.kvoa.com/video/protestors-gather-at-raytheon-with-goal-of-prohibiting-nuclear-weapons/video_f670db46-082c-520d-aa8c-70e4b79f3aac.html

After signing the Statement, please share it with your networks, encourage sign ons, join in the Nuclear Ban Treaty Collaborative campaign, and watch the virtual Nuclear Ban Week Vienna, Saturday, June 18^th through Thursday, June 23^rd.  https://vienna.icanw.org/

The First Meeting of the States Parties to the Treaty, hosted by the United Nations, will take place Tuesday, June 21^st through Thursday, June 23^rd.  https://meetings.unoda.org/meeting/tpnw-msp-1-2022/  and https://vienna.icanw.org/msp  [The full programme will be made public by the UN Office of Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) in the lead up to the event.  Accessed June 9, 2022.]

Prior to the three-day UN meeting, several civil society meetings will take place.  Go to the websites to register.  There are cut off registration dates for each event. 

• Saturday, June 18^th and Sunday, June 19^th, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and ICAN Austria co-host the Nuclear Ban Forum. https://vienna.icanw.org/forum   The full two-day program is available at https://vienna.icanw.org/program
• Monday, June 20^th, ICAN and the Austrian Parliament co-host a half-day Parliamentarian Conference on banning nuclear weapons. https://vienna.icanw.org/parliamentarian-conference
• Monday June 20^th, the 2022 Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impacts of Nuclear Weapons, organized by the Austrian government. https://vienna.icanw.org/humanitarian-impact-conference
• Tuesday, June 21^st, a Youth Meeting of States Parties, for those between ages 18 and 30 from across five continents. https://vienna.icanw.org/youth-msp

1. Sunday, June 12, 2022 – 40^th Anniversary of the New York City March and Rally of One Million People for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament. Free virtual commemoration event from 10 am to 2 pm MDT; noon to 4 pm ET.  Register at https://www.june12legacy.com/?emci=f80a145c-9ed3-ec11-b656-281878b8c32f&emdi=7aa2d758-73d7-ec11-b656-281878b8c32f&ceid=299000   FREE!  Watch Robert Richter’s film In Our Hands about the 1982 March and Rally at https://vimeo.com/590296934?emci=f80a145c-9ed3-ec11-b656-281878b8c32f&emdi=7aa2d758-73d7-ec11-b656-281878b8c32f&ceid=299000

2. Sunday, June 12^th – Defuse Nuclear War virtual 2 ½ hour event at 2 pm MDT; 4 pm ET. Live presentations from a wide range of speakers including Medea Benjamin, Leslie Cagan, Mandy Carter, Khury Petersen-Smith, David Swanson and Katrina vanden Heuvel.  To register:  https://www.codepink.org/defuse_nuclear_war06122022   World premiere of a video featuring Daniel Ellsberg on “defusing the threat of nuclear war,” produced by Oscar-nominated director Judith Ehrlich.  https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jhUM5ClzQJGAQysfNUeO2A

3. Tuesday, June 14^th, NM Water Quality Control Commission to consider designating over 100 miles of the Upper Rio Grande, the Rio Hondo and its tributary Lake Fork, and the Jemez River Headwaters (San Antonio Creek, East Fork, Jemez River, and Rodondo Creek) as Outstanding Waters (also known as ONRWs) under the Clean Water Act. Public comments are needed during virtual meeting.    To join the meeting:  https://www.env.nm.gov/opf/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2022/06/2022-06-14-WQCC-Agenda-DRAFT-1.pdf     To take action:  Sign the Conservation Voters New Mexico petition for you to sign at:  https://secure.everyaction.com/MYLR-09-n0-21ODsisBpDg2?emci=5fe37d06-01e2-ec11-b656-281878b85110&emdi=7e7e2d50-7ce2-ec11-b656-281878b85110&ceid=796711

4. Saturday, June 18, 2022 in Washington, DC – Mass Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls – Promoting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as a critical part of the wider movement for peace and justice in this country and beyond.  https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/june18/

5. Saturday, June 18^th through Thursday, June 23^rd is Nuclear Ban Week Vienna. For more information about all of the live and FREE virtual events taking place, visit:  this week’s CCNS News Update at http://nuclearactive.org/ and the International Campaign for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons at https://vienna.icanw.org/ Get your registrations in now as there are cut off dates!

Tags: 1MSP, 2022 Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impacts of Nuclear Weapons, Austrian government, Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, First Meeting of States Parties, ICAN, ICAN Austria, media coverage, Nuclear Ban Forum, Nuclear Ban Treaty Collaborative, Nuclear Ban Week Vienna, Nuclear Resister, Parliamentarian Conference, Statement on the Existential Threat of Nuclear Weapons, TPNW, Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, UN, UN Office of Disarmament Affairs, United Nations, UNODA, Youth Meeting of States Parties