For Immediate Release: July 29, 2022
Media Contacts: Daryl G. Kimball, executive director, (202) 463-8270 ext. 107
Hundreds of diplomats representing the states-parties to the 1968 nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), along with representatives from civil society, will convene in at UN headquarters in New York for talks that will shape the future of the international nuclear arms control regime at a time when the risks of nuclear proliferation and nuclear competition are growing.
The conference caps a five-year cycle of meetings in which states-parties review compliance with the NPT and seek agreement on steps to advance the treaty’s main goals: preventing the further spread of nuclear weapons and sensitive nuclear technology and halting and reversing the nuclear arms race and advancing nuclear disarmament.
This review conference comes a quarter-century after state-parties agreed on the indefinite extension of the NPT at the 1995 Review and Extension Conference. As states-parties seek to reach agreement on ways to reaffirm their support for the treaty and its implementation, several issues could prove to be contentious including the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the nonproliferation system and the failure of the nuclear-armed states-parties to meet their NPT Article VI disarmament obligations and goals outlined in the action plan adopted at the 2010 Review Conference.
Official Schedule and Documents
The first week of the conference will feature high-level speeches by world leaders before the meeting turns to a review of thematic issues. The conference agenda, working papers from delegations, and plenary session speeches are available on the official UN NPT conference website.
If you are not able to attend in person, you can still follow the conference via UN WebTV. Tune in Friday, Aug. 5 at approximately 3:00 pm Eastern U.S. time for NGO statements.
ACA Updates and Resources and Side Events
As we have done since the first NPT Review Conference in 1975, the Arms Control Association team will be there to monitor and engage in the proceedings. Our research team will provide twice-weekly updates on key developments at the Review Conference. You can follow these updates at ArmsControl.org/blog/2022/updates-10th-NPT-RevCon.
Additional ACA resources on the 10th NPT Review Conference are highlighted below.
Many official and nonofficial side events are scheduled through the course of the month and are listed on the official conference side-events calendar and from our colleagues at Reaching Critical Will. Some events will be in-person only while some will also be webcast.
Events Before and During the Review Conference
- July 29: ACA Executive Director Daryl Kimball will deliver the keynote address for an international symposium organized by the Asahi Shimbun, the Nagasaki city government, and the Nagasaki Foundation for the Promotion of Peace titled: “The Road to Nuclear Weapons Abolition.” The event will start at 9:00 pm Eastern U.S. time July 29 (July 30 at 10:00 am, Japan Standard time) and will be live streamed in English here: https://youtu.be/k80HSwG8YCg. Kimball’s remarks as prepared for delivery will be available at https://www.armscontrol.org/events.
- Aug. 5: Nongovernmental organizations will address the NPT Review Conference. Among the presentations will be one on “The Necessity of a Meaningful Action Plan on Article VI,” organized by ACA and endorsed by other major nuclear disarmament NGOs. The session can be viewed live via UN WebTV beginning at 3:00 pm ET.
- Aug. 10: The Deep Cuts in Nuclear Arsenals project will host a side event from 1:15 to 2:30 pm in conference room 5 on “Reducing nuclear risks and nuclear arsenals in times of tension in Europe.” Panelists include ACA’s Daryl Kimball, ACA Board Member Angela Kane, and Andrei Baklitskiy with UNIDIR. More details are online here.
- Aug. 18: ACA executive director Daryl Kimball will speak at a side event on “Strengthening all three pillars of the NPT,” organized by the Mission of Kazakhstan from 1:15 pm to 2:30 pm at the Kazakh Mission.
News and Analysis
- “States prepare for nonproliferation conference,” news analysis by Gabriela Rosa Hernandez, Arms Control Today, July/August 2022
- “No Ordinary NPT Review Conference,” op-ed by Daryl Kimball, Arms Control Today, June 2022
- “The Tenth NPT Revcon: What’s at Stake for the Global Nuclear Order,” with contributions from Daryl Kimball and Susan Burk, Just Security, July 29, 2022
Interviews
- “How to Save the Irreplaceable Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty: An Interview With Amb. Adam Scheinman,” in Arms Control Today, June 2022
- “When Ukraine Traded Nuclear Weapons for Security Assurances: An Interview with Mariana Budjeryn,” in Arms Control Today, April 2022
- “Can Disarmament Be Revived? An Interview with Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde” in Arms Control Today, May 2021
- “Reviewing the NPT: An Interview with Ambassador Gustavo Zlauvinen” in Arms Control Today, January 2021
ACA Fact Sheets
- “Timeline of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT),” (updated January 2022)
- “The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty At-A-Glance,” (updated March 2020)
- “Nuclear Weapons: Who Has What at a Glance,” (updated January 2022)
- “The IAEA Safeguards At-A-Glance,” (updated February 2022)