Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea voted in favour of the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) at the negotiating conference in 2017 and has consistently voted in favour of the annual UN General Assembly resolutions on the Treaty, including in 2024. It maintains policies and practices that are compatible with all of the prohibitions in Article 1 of the TPNW, and can therefore sign and ratify or accede to the Treaty without the need for a change in conduct.
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: compatibility in 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compatible |
| Test | Compatible | |
| Possess or stockpile | Compatible | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compatible |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compatible |
| (d) | Use | Compatible |
| Threaten to use | Compatible | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Compatible |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compatible |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compatible |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Voted yes (2024) |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | No |
| 2MSP delegation size (% women) | N/A |
| 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 1982) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2024) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Acceded 1980) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1996) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (In force 1983) |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | Yes (Modified) |
| Additional Protocol | No |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
In an address to the UN General Assembly in September 2024, the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, James Marape, warned that we are living at a time when a ‘nuclear bomb has the potential to destroy our planet’ at the press of a button. ‘[V]iolence begets violence,’ he said. ‘Peace must be achieved by peaceful means …’1
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2024, Papua New Guinea said that it ‘is steadfastly committed to disarmament’. It described itself as a ‘strong supporter and advocate for a nuclear-weapons-free Pacific region’. ‘We will continue to stand in solidarity with our Pacific neighbours in raising our collective voice against the testing or use of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in our region and beyond’.2
On 13 March 2024, Papua New Guinea became the 178th state to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).3
In a joint statement to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) Preparatory Committee in July 2024, the states parties to the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, including Papua New Guinea, said: ‘The scars of nuclear testing continue to mark our people and environment, and reinforce to our countries the unacceptable humanitarian costs and risks posed by nuclear war.’ They expressed their ‘region’s steadfast opposition to nuclear weapons’ while noting the TPNW’s entry into force in 2021.4
The Pacific Islands Forum, of which Papua New Guinea is a member, also noted the TPNW’s entry into force in a statement marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2024.5
Recommendations
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Papua New Guinea should urgently adhere to the TPNW.
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Papua New Guinea should conclude and bring into force an Additional Protocol (AP) with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).