EXPLANATION OF VOTE ON HUMANITARIAN CONSEQUENCES OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS
1C RESOLUTION
STATEMENT BY H.E. MR JAMES LARSEN, AMBASSADOR AND PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF AUSTRALIA TO THE UNITED NATIONS
4 November 2024
Chair,
I have the honour to deliver an explanation of vote on the resolution entitled ‘the Humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons’ on behalf of Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye and my own country, Australia.
At the outset, I would like to reiterate that our collective commitment to nuclear disarmament is predicated on the recognition that the short- and long-term impacts to humankind, and our planet, of nuclear war are clear, and devastating.
This is recognised as a fundamental principle of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, with the first sentence of the treaty text reading:
“Considering the devastation that would be visited upon all mankind by a nuclear war and the consequent need to make every effort to avert the danger of such a war and to take measures to safeguard the security of peoples”.
Let us be clear: it is more important than ever that we work together towards complete, verifiable and irreversible nuclear disarmament, to ensure future generations do not face this risk of catastrophe.
We reiterate that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.
We urge Nuclear Weapon States to continue to reaffirm this, in light of growing global nuclear risks and their primary responsibility to prevent nuclear conflict.
Chair,
Our countries have abstained on this resolution due to the incompatibility of language contained in the resolution with our security arrangements.
Our abstention is in no way an indication that we do not take seriously the humanitarian and environmental consequences of nuclear weapons use or testing.
The humanitarian perspective is central to our nuclear disarmament efforts. Security considerations will remain relevant to our nuclear disarmament work; there are no short cuts to disarmament.
We welcome States’ efforts to raise awareness of the humanitarian and environmental consequences of nuclear weapons and the value of highlighting this issue in relevant multilateral forums.
This is an important part of our efforts as we continue to seek practical steps toward our shared goal of a world without nuclear weapons.
I thank you.