A nuclear-free world

A world without nuclear weapons

13,000 nuclear weapons threaten our survival today, even though the majority of people in the world and their governments support an international ban on their development and use. Nuclear rhetoric around the wars in Ukraine and Gaza has showed us how these weapons can make a dangerous situation even riskier. The possibility of nuclear war is the greatest for many decades.

But there is another way. An historic United Nations treaty banning nuclear weapons became international law in 2021. Dozens of countries have already signed it, although the UK government refuses.

The new treaty makes it illegal under international law for its signatories to develop, test, produce, manufacture, acquire, possess, stockpile, transfer, use or threaten to use nuclear weapons. It also makes it illegal to assist or encourage anyone to engage in these activities. 

In addition, 115 countries are already part of nuclear weapons-free zones which cover Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the South Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean and Africa.

Nine countries have nuclear weapons. Almost 200 do not. CND campaigns for Britain to join the global majority and get rid of its nuclear weapons, as a step towards a nuclear-free – and more peaceful – world.