On Thursday, President Carlos Alvarado urged countries that have not yet ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPAN) to do so. In the framework of his visit to the United Nations General Assembly (UN), in New York, the President assured before several world leaders that the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the climate crisis are “two great existential risks that loom over the survival of the human race.”
The TPAN, which was promoted by Costa Rica, and was ratified by 27 nations, of the 50 necessary for its entry into force.
This is the first multilateral treaty that bans the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The treaty has 20 articles and the countries that signed it undertake to ban the manufacture, use, testing or transfer of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.
The instrument was approved in Costa Rica by the Legislative Assembly, through Law 9550 on May 3rd, 2018.
Costa Rica, as a country committed to the international legal system and confident that global disarmament must be achieved through dialogue, negotiation and the construction of legal norms, reaffirms its commitment for future generations to be freed from this nuclear nightmare. We cannot continue to postpone this responsibility we have with humanity!”
said Alvarado this Thursday, in commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
The adoption of the TPAN took place on July 7th, 2017, after several years of discussions among member countries, and the support of 122 votes in favor, but one against: Holland.