Tuvalu
Tuvalu was one of the co-sponsors for the 2024 UN General Assembly resolution on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (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’.1
TPNW Status
| Key weapons of mass destruction treaties | ||
|---|---|---|
| NUCLEAR WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the TPNW | Yes (Ratified 2020) | |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 1979) | |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2022) | |
| Party to an NWFZ | Yes (Ratified 1985, Rarotonga) | |
| CSA with the IAEA | Yes (In force 1991) | |
| AP with the IAEA | No | |
| BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Acceded 2024) | |
| 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) | Yes |
| Participated in 1MSP (2022) | No |
| Average MSP delegation size (% women) | 2 (50%) |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | N/A |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | No |
| 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 (Modified) |
Latest developments
During the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly in September 2024, Prime Minister Feleti Teo noted that Tuvalu is a state party to the TPNW and recently also acceded to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), ‘further solidifying our steadfast commitment to creating a world safe from nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction’.2
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 Tuvalu, declared: ‘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 2021.3
The Pacific Islands Forum, of which Tuvalu 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 2024.4
On 31 March 2022, Tuvalu ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), and on 1 December 2022 it upgraded its original Small Quantities Protocol (SQP) with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to a modified SQP.
Recommendations
-
Tuvalu should continue to encourage other states to adhere to the TPNW.
-
Tuvalu should ensure that all the TPNW obligations are implemented domestically, through legal, administrative, and other necessary measures.
-
Tuvalu should conclude and bring into force an Additional Protocol (AP) with the IAEA.