About the Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor

The Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor is a research project managed by Norwegian People’s Aid with contributions from a broad range of external experts and institutions, including the Federation of American Scientists and the Norwegian Academy of International Law. It tracks progress towards a world without nuclear weapons and highlights activities that stand between the international community and the fulfilment of the United Nations’ long-standing goal of the elimination of nuclear weapons. In measuring this progress, the Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor uses the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) as the primary yardstick, because this Treaty codifies norms and actions that are needed to create and maintain a world free of nuclear weapons.

The TPNW is the only legally binding global treaty that outlaws nuclear weapons. It was adopted on 7 July 2017 and entered into force on 22 January 2021. The impact of the TPNW will be built gradually and will depend on how it is welcomed and used by each and every state. The Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor records progress in universalising the TPNW while also tracking gaps in adherence to other key global treaties in the existing legal architecture for disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. This concerns, specifically: the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the nuclear-weapon-free zone (NWFZ) treaties, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements (CSA) and Additional Protocols (AP) with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

The Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor also evaluates the nuclear-weapons-related policies and practices of each of the 197 states that can become party to the above-mentioned treaties. These are the 193 UN member states, the two UN observer states (the Holy See and the State of Palestine), and the two ‘other’ states (the Cook Islands and Niue). Finally, the Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor sets out clear interpretations of each of the prohibitions and positive obligations of the TPNW and evaluates the extent to which the 197 states act in accordance with the Treaty. States parties and signatories are categorised as either ‘compliant’ or ‘non-compliant’ with the TPNW, whereas non-parties are categorised as either ‘compatible’ or ‘non-compatible’. States where worrying developments warrant close attention are assessed to be ‘of concern’.

State profiles for each of the 197 states can be viewed on the Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor's website.