More than 70 years after the world witnessed the devastating power of nuclear weapons, a global treaty has been approved to ban the bombs, a move that supporters hope will lead to the eventual elimination of all nuclear arms.<\/p>\n
The treaty was endorsed by 122 countries at the\u00a0United Nations\u00a0headquarters in New York on Friday after months of talks in the face of strong opposition from nuclear-armed states and their allies. Only the Netherlands, which took part in the discussion, despite having US nuclear weapons on its territory, voted against the treaty.<\/p>\n
All of the countries that bear nuclear arms and many others that either come under their protection or host weapons on their soil boycotted the negotiations. The most vocal critic of the discussions, the US, pointed to the\u00a0escalation of North Korea\u2019s nuclear and ballistic missile programme\u00a0as one reason to retain its nuclear capability. The UK did not attend the talks despite government claims to support multilateral disarmament.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been seven decades since the world knew the power of destruction of nuclear weapons and since day one there was a call to prohibit nuclear weapons,\u201d Elayne Whyte G\u00f3mez, president of the UN conference, told the Guardian. \u201cThis is a very clear statement that the international community wants to move to a completely different security paradigm that does not include nuclear weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 10-page\u00a0treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons\u00a0will be open for signatures from any UN member state on 20 September during the annual general assembly. While countries that possess nuclear weapons are not expected to sign up any time soon, supporters of the treaty believe it marks an important step towards a nuclear-free world by banning the weapons under international law.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a prohibition in line with other prohibitions on weapons of mass destruction,\u201d said Beatrice Fihn at the\u00a0International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons\u00a0in Geneva. \u201cWe banned biological weapons 45 years ago, we banned chemical weapons 25 years ago, and today we are banning nuclear weapons.\u201d Within two years the treaty could have the 50-state ratifications that it needs to enter into international law, she said.<\/p>\n