Kiribati
At the First Meeting of States Parties (1MSP) to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in 2022, Kiribati was appointed as a co-chair, together with Kazakhstan, of an informal working group on victim assistance, environmental remediation, and international cooperation and assistance.1 In this capacity, it held consultations with various stakeholders in 2024, including communities affected by the use and testing of nuclear weapons, to advance implementation of Articles 6 and 7 of the TPNW, with a focus on the possible establishment of an international trust fund.
TPNW Status
| Key weapons of mass destruction treaties | ||
|---|---|---|
| NUCLEAR WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the TPNW | Yes (Ratified 2019) | |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 1975) | |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2000) | |
| Party to an NWFZ | Yes (Ratified 1985, Rarotonga) | |
| CSA with the IAEA | Yes (In force 1990) | |
| AP with the IAEA | No (Signed 2004) | |
| BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the BWC | No | |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Acceded 2000) | |
| TPNW Art. 1(1) prohibitions: Compliance in 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compliant |
| Possess or stockpile | Compliant | |
| Test | Compliant | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compliant |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compliant |
| (d) | Use | Compliant |
| Threaten to use | Compliant | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Compliant |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compliant |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compliant |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Voted yes (2024) |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | Yes |
| Participated in 1MSP (2022) | Yes |
| Average MSP delegation size (% women) | 6.5 (35%) |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Voted yes |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Voted yes |
| Fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Nuclear facilities | No |
| Fissile material production | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
| SQP with the IAEA | Yes (Original) |
Latest developments
At the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) Preparatory Committee session in July 2024, Kiribati delivered a joint statement on the legacy of nuclear weapons, noting that the TPNW ‘contains robust humanitarian provisions and positive obligations on victim assistance, environmental remediation, and international cooperation and assistance’.2 In a national statement, Kiribati emphasised that the TPNW complements the NPT by closing a ‘legal gap’.3
At a high-level UN event to commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2024, Kiribati said that its people had suffered ‘harm and pain’ as a result of the British and US nuclear tests conducted in its territory in the 1950s and 1960s.4
During the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly later that week, Kiribati said that, as ‘a nation that has witnessed first-hand the destructive and long-lasting consequences of nuclear testing’, it remains steadfast in its support for the TPNW, ‘a landmark agreement that represents a collective effort to eliminate the threat of nuclear weapons from our world’.5
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2024, Kiribati said that it was ‘working hard on establishing the guidelines’ for an international trust fund to support the implementation of Article 6 and 7 of the TPNW.6 It also congratulated those states that had recently ratified the Treaty and encouraged ‘all States to sign and accede to it’.7
Kiribati was one of the co-sponsors for the 2024 UN General Assembly resolution on the TPNW, which called upon ‘all States that have not yet done so to sign, ratify, accept, approve or accede to the Treaty at the earliest possible date’.8
Recommendations
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Kiribati should continue to encourage other states to adhere to the TPNW.
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Kiribati should ensure that all the TPNW obligations are implemented domestically, through legal, administrative, and other necessary measures.
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Kiribati should bring into force its Additional Protocol (AP) with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and upgrade to a modified Small Quantities Protocol (SQP).
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Kiribati should adhere to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC).