Reaching Critical Will

Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

Conference on Disarmament

General Assembly First Committee

UN Disarmament Commission

Special Session on Disarmament

Review of the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons

Read the High-Level Panel's Report

In 1995, the Australian government created the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons as an independent body to investigate the status of nuclear disarmament and suggest practical steps towards achieving a nuclear weapon free world, as well as to address the international security and stability concerns during and after the transitional period. The Commission, comprised of seventeen distinguished scholars, scientists, international government officials, military strategists, and disarmament experts, published its final report in August 1996 and presented it to the United Nations on 30 September 1996 and to the Conference on Disarmament on 30 January 1997.

The following is a review of the Commission’s recommendations and the current state of nuclear disarmament efforts since the Commission’s report.

1. A New Climate For Action
2. Immediate Steps
3. Reinforcing Steps
4. The Commissioners
5. The International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament

A New Climate for Action

The danger posed by nuclear weapons to humanity and the earth is immense and any use, either accidental or for military purposes, would be devastating. Thousands of these weapons remain in the hands of a few nations, relics of a time of deep animosity. Their alleged usefulness as deterrents continues to be espoused despite the clear evidence to their disutility. The Commission noted that by maintaining their nuclear arsenals, while denying the weapons to others, an unsustainable system of discrimination and instability has been created by the nuclear powers. The Commission asserted that the threats posed by accidents, nuclear terrorism, and horizontal proliferation are too grave for the world to remain stagnant on this issue. The continued possession of nuclear weapons by some threatens the security of all states. Popular support and the political will to abolish these weapons are present and it is up to the governments of the United States, China, the Russian Federation, and France, as well as the other member states of the United Nations, to take action.

Immediate Steps

The Commission recommended a series of steps, which if taken immediately, would make the world more secure and hasten the movement towards a nuclear weapon free world.

1. The five recognized nuclear states must commit themselves unequivocally to the elimination of their nuclear arsenals and must agree to begin to immediately take the necessary steps towards total elimination of their nuclear capabilities required.
2. Nuclear weapon systems must be taken off high alert.
3. Warheads must be separated from their delivery vehicles.
4. The deployment of non-strategic nuclear weapons must end.
5. Nuclear testing must end.
6. Negotiations must begin to reduce the United States and Russian arsenals.
7. An agreement must be reached among the nuclear weapon states of no-first use, as well as non-use in retaliation against the non-nuclear weapons states.

Reinforcing Steps

1. Action to prevent further horizontal proliferation.
2. Developing verification arrangements for a nuclear weapon free world.
3. Cessation of the production of fissile material for nuclear explosive purposes.

During the transitional period, it is critical that no new nuclear weapon states emerge. States will need high levels of assurance in order for them to willingly give up their arsenals. Effective verification methods must be established and maintained in order to prevent both horizontal and vertical proliferation. Effective verification will require the establishment of formal, legal undertakings and an increased capacity to detect violations.

By sharing their knowledge of confidence-building and verification measures garnered from the United States/Russian Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties (START), increased international confidence in the disarmament process can be created. Additionally, the US and Russia could bring the UK, France and China into the disarmament process through these measures.

The Commissioners

The commissioner included: Brazilian Ambassador Celso Amorim; retired United States General Lee Butler; Australian Ambassador Richard Butler; British military strategist, Field Marshal Lord Carver; French military strategist and human rights campaigner, Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau; Sri Lankan Ambassador and prominent disarmament expert, Jayantha Dhanapala; Swedish Ambassador and disarmament expert, Rolf Ekeus; Egyptian Ambassador and international legal scholar, Nabil Elaraby; former Japanese Ambassador and prominent scholar, Ryukichi Imai; Nobel Laureate and health expert, Datuk Ronald McCoy; former United States Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara; strategic defense scholar, Robert O’Neill; Chinese Ambassador Qian Jiadong; former Prime Minister of France, Michel Rocard; Nobel Laureate and nuclear physicist Joseph Rotblat; scholar and nuclear physicist, Roald Sagdeev; former Swedish Ambassador and disarmament expert, Maj Britt Theorin.

The International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament

Established as a joint-initiative in June of 2008 by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (ICNNPD) was created as a means 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.” The commissioners include international governmental officials, military strategists, scholars and disarmament experts. The commission is currently meeting and its report will be released in conjunction with the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference.

Current ICNNPD research papers are available here.

Australian and Japanese civil society organizations are currently forming an NGO shadow commission and are welcoming groups from all the ICNNPD Commission countries to join. Please contact WILPF International’s Vice President Felicity Hill for more information.