The obligation to cooperate with and assist other states parties
Interest in providing support to states affected by nuclear weapons use and testing continued to grow in 2023. The working group established by the First Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW (1MSP) on implementation of the Treaty’s Articles 6 and 7 examined how to establish an international trust fund to support victim assistance and environmental remediation. Outside TPNW meetings, the Treaty’s states parties and signatories as well as several non-parties indicated their interest in victim assistance and environmental remediation, including through UN General Assembly First Committee statements and a new dedicated resolution.
The working group on victim assistance, environmental remediation, and international cooperation and assistance that was established by the 1MSP ‘to coordinate and take forward the intersessional work’ was co-chaired by Kazakhstan and Kiribati. The group continued discussions on an international trust fund in 2023, which had been initiated a year earlier, in four meetings in January, February, and March. The co-chairs of the informal working group reported to the Second Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW (2MSP) that several states and civil society ‘expressed a strong interest in the topic of a voluntary trust fund and its potential to help address the needs of affected communities’ in the intersessional process.
At 2MSP, states parties further decided to hold focused discussions and submit a report to the Third Meeting of States Parties (3MSP) ‘with recommendations related to the feasibility of, and possible guidelines for, establishing an international trust fund for victim assistance and environmental remediation, with the aim of examining the establishment of such a trust fund at the third Meeting of States Parties as a priority.’
In their statements to 2MSP, dozens of states highlighted the ongoing humanitarian impacts of nuclear weapons use and testing and the need to address them, including by working inclusively with affected communities.
Victim assistance and environmental remediation also received increased attention at other international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation forums in 2023 due to the efforts of TPNW states parties, including at the UN General Assembly and at the Preparatory Committee meeting of the NPT.
- The obligations in the TPNW’s Article 6 to assist victims and remediate the environment should be read in conjunction with Article 7 of the Treaty.
- Article 7(1) obligates each state party to the TPNW to cooperate with other states parties to ‘facilitate the implementation’ of the Treaty, and Article 7(2) grants all states parties ‘the right to seek and receive assistance, where feasible’. In addition, under paragraph 3 of Article 7 each state party ‘in a position to do so’ is required to provide technical, material, and financial assistance to states parties affected by nuclear-weapon use or testing.
- Article 7(6) of the TPNW provides that any state party that has used or tested nuclear weapons or any other nuclear explosive devices ‘shall have a responsibility to provide adequate assistance’ to affected states parties for victim assistance and environmental remediation. This responsibility is without prejudice to any other duty or obligation the state may have under international law. This provision was especially important to affected states during the drafting of the Treaty; they argued that user and testing states should be both legally and morally responsible for their actions.
- International and non-governmental organisations also have a role to play. As referenced in Article 7(5) of the TPNW, assistance may be provided through the United Nations, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, civil society groups, or other organisations.
- While most of Article 7 is directed at supporting victim assistance and environmental remediation, assistance can also be provided in relation to other obligations of the Treaty, such as the development of national implementation legislation or destruction of nuclear-weapons stockpiles.