The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons makes everything to do with nuclear weapons illegal- for the countries that sign up- and strengthens the stigma against nuclear weapons for everyone else.
As countries prohibit and eliminate weapons, international norms change. The normative changes lead to concrete changes in policies and behaviours, even in countries that don’t sign up to the treaty. This is true for treaties ranging from those banning cluster munitions and landmines to the Convention on the Law of the Sea. The prohibition on assistance in the nuclear ban treaty will play a significant role in changing behaviour given the impact it may have on financing and military planning and preparation for use.
Now, nuclear weapons, like chemical and biological weapons, are fully prohibited. Tweet thisThe treaty completes the weapons of mass destruction trifecta. From the work that started in the 1970s, when chemical weapons were banned, through the biological weapons ban of the 1990s, now nuclear weapons are also outlawed. The other WMD prohibitions mean nearly every country has eliminated banned weapons from their arsenals. In the rare instances where they have been used, those who have done so have come under intense international pressure and criticism. And it’s hard to find a financial institution that knowingly invests in bio-technological or chemical companies that pose any risk of violating these agreements.
The time has come now for the same due diligence to be applied in the case of nuclear weapons.
While the word financing doesn’t specifically appear in the list of prohibitions in the nuclear ban treaty, it’s become regular practice for countries to recognise financing as a specific subset of assistance (which is explicitly prohibited). During treaty negotiations, many countries made it clear that assistance would include all forms of financing, just as it does for chemical weapons. During negotiations South Africa made the point that “financing is implicitly covered in the sub articles and any state that knowingly engages in such activities would be in contravention of its obligations under this treaty.”
Therefore, efforts to rid the world of these weapons of mass destruction should have as a starting point the understanding that there is an obligation to end existing financing relationships and find pathways for disinvestment.
This is the approach already taken by a number of financial institutions (including those listed in our Hall of Fame), which have made clear policies and implemented them in such a way that they do not hold investments in companies involved in the production of key components for nuclear weapons.
Other financial institutions still have some work to do: either by creating new policies that limit or prohibit their exposure to companies producing illegal weapons, or by strengthening existing policies. For those listed in the Runners-Up, there are specific recommendations for how to best improve policies.
The coming entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons shows how the world is ready to put nuclear weapons in the past. Two thirds of UN members voted to adopt this Treaty, and that majority no longer accepts nuclear weapons nor considers them legitimate, building a new norm of international behaviour. Never has there been a better time to invest in the future and divest from an illegitimate and unacceptable past.