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Pressure on nuclear weapons States to speed up nuclear disarmament process

Austrian ambassador in Scotland: ‘We can speed up nuclear disarmament process’ Alexander Kmentt speaks of growing international action in opposition to weapons of mass destruction, Common Space, 24 Sept 15 

PRESSURE is building on nuclear weapons states to speed up their legal commitments to disarm their weapons of mass destruction, according to the Austrian ambassador for disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation.

Alexander Kmentt, speaking at the Scottish Parliament of a growing international movement to ban the weapons, explained to CommonSpace that non-nuclear nations are becoming impatient for change.

“There is a new awareness of a change in the humanitarian impact of the use of nuclear weapons. There is a need to consider security in a broader sense. Consider the threats and risks associated with nuclear weapons. For countries in Africa there is now a growing awareness of how the use of nuclear weapons would impact on issues such as harvests and food security.

“The same is true for issues surrounding health impacts and the environment. Even the countries that do have nuclear weapons concede that the use of nuclear weapons would have a disastrous impact. It’s necessary to talk about nuclear weapons in these broader terms.”

Kmentt was a lead organiser of the third International Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, which took place in December 2014 with a record 158 states in attendance.

Over three quarters of the world’s states are now part of a process to eliminate nuclear weapons, and over 100 states have signed a statement led by the Austrian government in favour of abolition.

Increasingly, the UK Government and the other six nuclear powers are isolated within the field of international states and policy makers. ………https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/2496/austrian-ambassador-in-scotland-we-can-speed-up-nuclear-disarmament-process

September 25, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, weapons and war