Humanitarian Action on Nuclear Weapons

The August 2022 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) was overshad­owed by Russia’s nuclear threats and the war in Ukraine. By contrast, the first meeting of states parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in June 2022 led to a comprehensive global policy framework addressing humanitarian and environ­mental impacts of nuclear weapons. So far, many Western states have had an ambivalent engagement with the TPNW and its victim assistance and environmental remediation obligations. This publication by Matthew Breay Bolton argues that states should use these issues to build a bridge and trust beyond an otherwise lackluster treaty review.