Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPAN)

O Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPAN) it is an international agreement that aims to ban nuclear weapons on a world scale. TPAN entered into force on January 22, 2021, having been signed by 86 countries. Of these, only 54 ratified the treaty (ICAN, 2021). The nine nuclear powers do not make this list, nor do countries that host other nations' weapons.

Read too: Effects of Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

What is the Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty?

The Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty (TPAN) is a international agreement whose main objective is the prohibition of nuclear weapons throughout the world, consisting of the first treaty that aims to completely ban this type of weaponry on a global scale.

In addition to their use, the development, testing, production, transfer, possession and storage of nuclear weapons in countries that adhere to the TPAN are prohibited. Threats of use, whatever the circumstances, are also prohibited according to the text of the document.

Taking into account the devastating consequences of atomic weapons, the countries that are part of the TPAN are further prohibited from encouraging, inducing or assisting others in weapons-related activities nuclear weapons. Furthermore, the document stipulates the

aid to victims of both direct use and nuclear testing, as well as measures aimed at the recovery of contaminated environments.

TPAN aims to ban nuclear weapons worldwide.

Negotiations took place in the first half of 2017, and the treaty was approved on July 7 of that same year by 122 countries at the headquarters of the United Nations (UN), in New York City, United States. In September 2017, the States began to sign the document.

O Brazil, represented by then-President Michel Temer, was the first nation to sign the TPAN, although it has not yet ratified it. This means that the country has approved the treaty, but the Legislative Power has not yet approved for confirmation to be made and there was, finally, the country's adherence to the terms of the TPAN.

The TPAN entered into force on January 22, 2021. As defined by the official text of the agreement, it was necessary for 50 signatory countries to ratify the treaty and then, after 90 days, it would become legally valid. The 50th country to officially join TPAN was Honduras, on October 24, 2020.

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Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and ICAN

The International Campaign for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons or Ican (acronym in English), as described by the organization itself, is a coalition of hundreds of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from different countries and created for the purpose of advancing discussions on nuclear disarmament on a world scale. in addition to NGOs, the campaign receives support from academic institutions, members of civil society and religious leaders across the planet.

The Ican graduated in Australia and launched internationally in 2007, during a meeting about the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which took place in Vienna, Austria. Ican is headquartered today in Geneva, Switzerland.

It can be said that, given the efforts of Ican, the UN established, in December 2015, a special working group to discuss the proposals regarding the prohibition of nuclear weapons internationally and, in 2016, negotiations began for the elaboration of a legal treaty. As we have seen, the TPAN was approved the following year and entered into force in January 2021.

Still in 2017, Ican received the Nobel Prize of Peace, for its work in “warning of the catastrophic consequences of the use of nuclear weapons” and for the efforts to ban them through a treaty.|1|.

See too: Tsar bomb – the most powerful bomb in history

Countries participating in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

According to the United Nations (UN), TPAN currently has 86 signatory countries. However, of those, only 54 are considered participants, since they ratified the treaty.

South Africa	Honduras	Palestine
Antigua and Barbuda	Cook Islands	Panama
Austria	Maldives Islands	Paraguay
Bangladesh	Ireland	Saint Kitts and Nevis
Belize	Jamaica	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
benin	Kiribati	San Marino
Bolivia	Laos	Saint Lucia
Botswana	Lesotho	Samoa
Cambodia	Malaysia	Thailand
Kazakhstan	Malta	Trinidad and Tobago
Costa Rica	Mexico	Tuvalu
Cuba	Namibia	Uruguay
Dominica	Nauru	Vanuatu
El Salvador	Nicaragua	Vatican
Ecuador	Nigeria	Venezuela
fiji	Niue	Vietnam
Gambia	New Zealand	Comoros
Guyana	palau	Philippines

Source: United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (Unoda) and Ican.

Nuclear Powers and the Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty

Those nations holding atomic weapons are considered nuclear powers.. Currently, nine territories can be called as follows:

• Russia;

• U.S;

• France;

• China;

• United Kingdom;

• Pakistan;

• India;

• Israel;

• North Korea.

Together, these countries have a total of 13,400 nuclear warheads, which are concentrated in Russia and the United States. Israel has not declared possession of such weapons. Five other countries not listed above host US weapons, namely: Turkey, Italy, Belgium, Germany and Netherlands, according to information from Ican.

Atomic bombs have catastrophic effects. Thinking about the serious consequences of its use and production, TPAN was developed.

None of the nine nuclear powers joined TPAN, as well as not participating in the negotiations that culminated with the approval of the treaty in 2017. However, it is noteworthy that Russia, the United States, France, China and the United Kingdom are members of the Treaty of No Nuclear Proliferation (NPT), an agreement that came into force in 1970 and which provides, among others, for the restriction of the possession of weapons nuclear weapons.

Grades

|1| ICAN receives 2017 Nobel Peace Prize. ICAN, [s.d.]. (Click here and access.)

By Paloma Guitarrara
geography teacher