Kiribati
In its opening statement to the First Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW (1MSP) in Vienna in June 2022, Kiribati said: ‘Today marks a historic day, a day in which we have risen up to say no to nuclear weapons.' It also urged the international community to ‘listen to the voices of youth and of those whose families have suffered from nuclear testing,’ and not ‘forget how the former colonial powers treated innocent Pacific islanders in their pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.’[1]
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compliance in 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compliant |
| Test | Compliant | |
| Possess or stockpile | 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 (2022) |
| Participated in 1MSP (2022) | Yes |
| 1MSP delegation size (% women) | 3 (0%) |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Voted yes |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Voted yes |
| Other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) treaties | |
|---|---|
| Party to an NWFZ | Yes (Ratified 1985, Rarotonga) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 1975) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2000) |
| Party to the BWC | No |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Acceded 2000) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | Yes (Original) |
| Additional Protocol | No (Signed 2004) |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
Together with Kazakhstan, Kiribati submitted a working paper to the 1MSP with proposals for action to assist victims of nuclear weapon use and testing and to remediate contaminated environments.2 The 1MSP appointed the two states as co-chairs of an informal intersessional working group to address these issues, which will report to the Second Meeting of States Parties.3
At the Tenth Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in August 2022, Kiribati said it is ‘a proud state party to the TPNW’ and firmly believes that the TPNW ‘complements the NPT by filling the missing legal gap in the NPT and expands the existing international security architecture by addressing victim assistance’.4
During the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly in September 2022, the President of Kiribati, Taneti Maamau, welcomed the creation of a scientific advisory group at the 1MSP ‘to help provide the science needed to address health and environmental problems occasioned by past nuclear testing’.5
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2022, Kiribati called upon ‘all states to sign and ratify the TPNW to ensure its universality’.6
Recommendations
- Kiribati should continue to encourage other states to adhere to the TPNW.
- Kiribati should ensure that all the TPNW obligations are implemented domestically, through legal, administrative, and other necessary measures.
- Kiribati should bring into force its Additional Protocol with the IAEA, and upgrade to a Modified Small Quantities Protocol. @Kiribati should adhere to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC).