{"id":20939,"date":"2020-08-06T06:15:57","date_gmt":"2020-08-06T10:15:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=20939"},"modified":"2020-08-06T06:17:13","modified_gmt":"2020-08-06T10:17:13","slug":"the-elders-call-on-world-leaders-to-take-action-or-risk-nuclear-catastrophe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=20939","title":{"rendered":"The Elders call on world leaders to take action or risk nuclear catastrophe"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .<\/p>\n

A press release from The Elders<\/a><\/p>\n

The Elders have called on\u00a0the\u00a0leaders of the five recognised nuclear-weapon states to use the 75th\u00a0anniversary\u00a0of the dropping of the atomic bomb on\u00a0Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a moment to reflect on the lives lost and\u00a0begin\u00a0substantive steps towards the total elimination of\u00a0nuclear weapons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n

The atomic bombing of the two cities on 6 and 9 August 1945 led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, laying bare the true horror of\u00a0nuclear weapons. Today, over 13,000 nuclear warheads are in existence.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0a\u00a0direct appeal to\u00a0the \u2018P5\u2019 heads of state, the Elders\u00a0stressed\u00a0that\u00a0\u201cleadership in tackling these nuclear threats is needed more than ever\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In letters to US President\u00a0Donald Trump, Russian President\u00a0Vladimir Putin, Chinese President\u00a0Xi Jinping, French President\u00a0Emmanuel Macron\u00a0and UK Prime Minister\u00a0Boris Johnson,\u00a0the\u00a0Elders expressed alarm that the\u00a0breakdown of arms control agreements,\u00a0the\u00a0emergence of additional nuclear states\u00a0and the resurgence of geopolitical tensions have significantly increased the risks of nuclear catastrophe.<\/p>\n

Such risks\u00a0pose a serious threat to\u00a0the\u00a0Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which has made a critical contribution to limiting the spread of nuclear weapons since 1970.\u00a0There are also\u00a0serious concerns\u00a0presented by new technologies, such as\u00a0the development of hypersonic cruise missiles\u00a0and the growth of\u00a0increasingly sophisticated and opaque cyber capabilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Continued in right column)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Question related to this article:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n 
\nCan we abolish all nuclear weapons?<\/a> <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

(Continued from left column)<\/p>\n

The Elders emphasised the heavy responsibilities of all nuclear-weapon states to reduce nuclear risks and to work in good faith towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In particular, the Elders called on President Trump to accept President Putin\u2019s offer to immediately extend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) for another five years and urged him not to make extension of the treaty conditional on China\u2019s participation in new arms control negotiations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Elders believe\u00a0extending New START would provide a\u00a0necessary\u00a0basis for\u00a0any\u00a0new negotiations\u00a0with\u00a0China\u00a0and other nuclear states\u00a0as part of an expanded\u00a0longer-term arms control framework.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Elders\u00a0wrote in support of\u00a0proposals to convene a\u00a0P5\u00a0leaders\u2019\u00a0summit\u00a0on arms control,\u00a0expressing\u00a0hope that this could be arranged at the earliest opportunity and\u00a0allow\u00a0for constructive discussions\u00a0to strengthen existing arms controls between the nuclear states.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Elders also called on the P5 to make a collective statement,\u00a0building upon\u00a0Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev\u2019s declaration\u00a0that \u201ca nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought\u201d, as a\u00a0means\u00a0of building trust and improving\u00a0the global atmosphere\u00a0ahead of\u00a0next year\u2019s\u00a0delayed NPT\u00a0Review Conference.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

As the world marks\u00a075 years since the atomic bombing of\u00a0Hiroshima\u00a0and Nagasaki,\u00a0Mary Robinson, The\u00a0Chair of The Elders,\u00a0called for\u00a0a moment of reflection:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing\u00a0should give the entire world pause for thought. We must all recognise the horrendous human cost of this tragic event\u00a0and renew our commitment to never letting it happen again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ban Ki-moon,\u00a0the\u00a0Deputy Chair\u00a0of The Elders, reiterated the need for political action\u00a0from the US and Russia:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI urge Presidents Trump and Putin to extend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Without action, New START will expire in February\u00a02021, meaning there would be\u00a0no binding agreement on arms control between the world\u2019s two nuclear superpowers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY . A press release from The Elders The Elders have called on\u00a0the\u00a0leaders of the five recognised nuclear-weapon states to use the 75th\u00a0anniversary\u00a0of the dropping of the atomic bomb on\u00a0Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a moment to reflect on the lives lost and\u00a0begin\u00a0substantive steps towards the total elimination of\u00a0nuclear weapons.\u00a0 The atomic bombing of … Continue reading The Elders call on world leaders to take action or risk nuclear catastrophe<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-20939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-disarmament","tag-global"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20939\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}