Weapons of mass destruction – namely nuclear, chemical and biological – pose great threats to the world and intensive efforts are ongoing to urge countries to reduce and safely dispose of these deadly arms stockpiles.
Green Cross supports global efforts to eliminate these weapons from our world, the very future of which remains in a constant state of threat by the continuing presence of tens of thousands of nuclear warheads and thousands of tons of chemical weapons.
Green Cross promotes the adoption and implementation of a wide range of treaty regimes aimed at limiting, and ridding, the presence of these weapons. Nuclear disarmament efforts have been primarily bilateral between the United States and Russian Federation, and Green Cross' has actively supported through intensive advocacy the signing of the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between the two nuclear powers aimed at making deeper cuts in their atomic weapons arsenals.
Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT) of the International Atomic Energy Agency: This treaty is aimed at preventing the spread of atomic arms and weapons technology and achieving nuclear disarmament. Inspection regimes are needed to verify efforts of signatories to not develop such weapons.
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW): Disarmament regimes must be strengthened to eliminate weapons of mass destruction. The OPCW's mission is to implement the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and ensure a credible, transparent regime to verify the destruction of chemical weapons. Ongoing inspection and verification is also needed to make sure any former weapons State does not have the ability to restart production of chemical weapons.
Biological Weapons Convention (BWC): Biological weapons, while also covered within the OPCW, are targeted for elimination under a specific treaty regime, commonly known as the BWC or Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC). It entered into force in 1975 and was the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning an entire category of weapons, prohibiting the development, production, acquisition, transfer, retention, stockpiling and use of biological and toxin weapons.
Biological Weapons Convention Fact Sheet (updated September 2012)
UN website on Biological Weapons Convention
Email Paul Walker for more information.