Solomon Islands
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade of the Solomon Islands, Peter Shanel Agovaka, signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) at a high-level ceremony in New York on 24 September 2024 and deposited his country’s instrument of ratification with the UN Secretary-General at the same time.1 The government said that its decision to sign and ratify the TPNW ‘demonstrates its commitment to global efforts towards total elimination of nuclear weapons’.2
TPNW Status
| Key weapons of mass destruction treaties | ||
|---|---|---|
| NUCLEAR WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the TPNW | Yes (Ratified 2024) | |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 1981) | |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2023) | |
| Party to an NWFZ | Yes (Ratified 1987, Rarotonga) | |
| CSA with the IAEA | Yes (In force 1993) | |
| AP with the IAEA | No | |
| BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Acceded 1981) | |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Acceded 2004) | |
| 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) | No |
| Participated in 1MSP (2022) | No |
| Average MSP 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) | Did not vote |
| Fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Nuclear facilities | No |
| Fissile material production | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
| SQP with the IAEA | Yes (Original) |
Latest developments
During the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly in September 2024, Minister Shanel Agovaka described his nation’s signature and ratification of the TPNW as ‘a message of peace to all our friends not to engage in military nuclear projects and to free the world of nuclear weapons’.3
In a statement marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2024, Minister Agovoka said: ‘We in the Pacific put a human face to the agony of nuclear weapons. More than 300 nuclear tests were conducted in the Pacific. Sadly external powers continue to store and dump nuclear waste into our ocean. We can only honour the memories and lives of those that have gone before us by demanding a world free of nuclear weapons.’4 On the same occasion, the Pacific Islands Forum congratulated the Solomon Islands on recently signing and ratifying the TPNW.5
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 the Solomon Islands, 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 2021.6
The Solomon Islands was one of the co-sponsors for the 2024 UN General Assembly resolution on the TPNW, which welcomed the Treaty’s entry into force and 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’.7
Recommendations
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The Solomon Islands should continue to encourage other states to urgently adhere to the TPNW.
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The Solomon Islands should ensure that all the TPNW obligations are implemented domestically, through legal, administrative, and other necessary measures.
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The Solomon Islands should conclude and bring into force an Additional Protocol (AP) with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and upgrade to a modified Small Quantities Protocol (SQP)