On the eve of UNGA’s Summit of the Future, IPPNW released the Urgent Call to Step Back from the Brink of Nuclear War to address the growing risk of the use of nuclear weapons. With more than 80 endorsements from former Prime Ministers, NGO leaders, retired Generals, medical journal editors, and more was indeed a success. A number of people have told us that the process of soliciting signatures opened some new doors and conversations with prominent leaders, some of whom have not traditionally engaged on the nuclear issue.
As the risk of nuclear war grows, an eminent group of Nobel Laureates, medical and scientific leaders, and notable public figures come together with one common voice to call on world leaders to act with the urgency this moment requires and step back from the brink of global catastrophe. This joint statement, endorsed by over 80 prominent global leaders, including former Prime Ministers, retired Generals, and medical journal editors, comes at the heels of the UNGA’s Summit of the Future. The full list of signatories can be found below the letter.
In addition, On 27th September at United Nations Headquarters in New York, IPPNW program director Molly McGinty addressed the High-level Meeting on the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons to demand urgent action to prevent nuclear war. Molly was one of two civil society leaders selected to speak in the well of the UN. She was joined by Aigerim Seitenova, a third generation Kazakh testing survivor and leader of STOP: Steppe Youth Organization for Peace. You can read Molly’s remarks, delivered on behalf of our federation, here on Peace and Health blog. The joint endorsements from notable public figures and IPPNW powerful speech demonstrate this moment requires steps back from the brink of global catastrophe.
An Urgent Call to Step Back from the Brink of Nuclear War
September 24, 2024Events of the last year have brought the world closer to nuclear war than we have been since the end of the Cold War. Two years ago, the leaders of the P5 warned that nuclear war can never be won and must never be fought, and G20 leaders stated that the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible. Today we call on the leaders of all nine nuclear armed states to step back from the brink of a conflict that will kill billions of people and end modern civilization.
Specifically, we call on them to declare unequivocally that they will not use nuclear weapons. We also call on them to sit down together to negotiate a timetable for the elimination of their nuclear arsenals, to establish the necessary verification and enforcement provisions and to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which has already been signed by nearly 100 nations. And we call on them to demonstrate significant progress in these negotiations by the 80th anniversary of the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki next August.
We further call on the Secretary General of the United Nations and the leaders of all nations to do everything in their power to facilitate this process.
The complete elimination of these weapons is the only reliable means to guarantee that they will never be used, either intentionally or in error. There have been many documented instances of technical failure or human error that could have led to the unintentional launch of nuclear weapons. These risks are heightened in times of international tension. If these weapons remain in the arsenals of the nuclear armed states, it is not a question of “if” but “when” they are used, causing unimaginable suffering for humanity.
We strongly support the Secretary General’s 2023 New Agenda for Peace, which identified the elimination of nuclear weapons as the highest priority action to secure peace. At the Summit of the Future, we urged all states to support the call for nuclear-armed states to prevent any use or threat of use of nuclear weapons, pending their total elimination. The time for words is over; the world needs action.
The armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and the resulting confrontation between Russia and NATO, marked by frequent and explicit threats to use nuclear weapons, is the most obvious source of the current danger. But there are others. The growing enmity between the United States and China, the escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula, the unresolved conflicts between India and Pakistan and in the Middle East, including the current conflict between Israel and Hamas, all have the potential to escalate to nuclear war.
This danger is magnified by the increasing use of artificial intelligence in the military, which is speeding up warfare and reducing the time for nuclear decision-making. It also increases the potential for cyber hacking and terrorism involving nuclear weapons.
During the Cold War, leaders of opposing blocs understood that they needed to work with each other to avoid nuclear Armageddon. The current crisis demands that nations, in the interest of their own national security, put aside traditional relations based on competition and create a new world order based on cooperation. Such cooperation is necessary to secure the elimination of nuclear weapons, and will enable us to deal more effectively with climate change, biodiversity loss, the next great pandemic and other existential threats that may arise.
Now is the time to act.
Endorsed by*:
Frank Aaen, Advisor, Enhedslisten
Professor V. E. Adamu, President, Orapuh, Inc.
Dr. Philip Adeoye, Editor-in-Chief | Senior Registrar, Jos University Teaching Hospital | Jos Journal of Medicine
Professor Adewale Adeyeye, Sokoto Journal of Veterinary Sciences
Dr. Amit Agrawal, Department of Neurosurgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences Bhopal
Dr. Jackeline Alger, Executive Director, Instituto de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Parasitologia Antonio Vidal
Dr. Moza AlRabban, General Director, Arab Scientific Community Organization
Kristoffer Andreas Haugen, Leader, Student Affiliate of the Norwegian Nurses Organisation (NNO)
Dr. Klaus Arnung, Chairman, Danske Læger mod Kernevåben
William Astore, Retired USAF Lieutenant Colonel
Uffe Kaels Auring, Chief Editor, Eftertryk
Marc B. Sanganee, Editor-in-Chief, Dagbladet Arbejderen (The Daily Worker)
Professor Nancy Baxter, Deputy Executive Dean, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney
Dr. Francisco Bonilla-Escobar, Editor in Chief, International Journal of Medical Students
Ouided Bouchamaoui, Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2015
Isabel Bramsen, Director of Peace and Conflict Studies, Lund University
Lave K. Broch, Co-Founder, nye parti “Demokraterne – hele Danmark skal leve”
Darien Castro, Founder, Wings for Amazon Project
Dr. Chiara Cerletti, Assistant to the Editor-in-Chief, Bleeding Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (Journal)
Edward Chaka, Peoples Federation for National Peace and Development (PEFENAP)
Nondo Rugira Christian, Director, Action Pour le Developpement des Jeunes au Congo (ADJC)
Sir Patrick Cordingley, Retired Major General British Army
Thomas Countryman, Assistant Secretary of State for Nonproliferation (2011-2017) to the USA
Dr. Manuel M. Dayrit, former Secretary of Heath, Republic of the Philippines
Professor Giovanni de Gaetano, Editor in Chief, Bleeding Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (BTVB)
Laureate Professor Pete Doherty, AC, Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Melbourne at the Doherty Institute
Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2003
Bjørn Elmquist, Former Chairman, Retspolitisk Foreningk
Professor Gregory Erhabor, Editor-in-Chief | Professor of Medicine, West African Journal of Medicine, Yaba, Lagos | Department of Medicine, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria
Professor Osaro Erhabor, School of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto Nigeria
Hon Gareth Evans, Former Foreign Minister of Australia
Steen Folke, Former Member of Parliament | Spokesperson, Denmark | Nej til Oprustning – Ja til Bæredygtig Sikkerhedspolitik
Robert Forsyth, Former British Royal Navy Commander
Sister Carol Gilbert, OP, Dominican Sister Grand Rapids Michigan
Dr. Jennifer Grounds, Treasurer, Medical Association for Prevention of War Australia
Professor Andrew Haines, Professor of Environmental Changes and Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Commissioner Anna Hansen, County Commissioner, Santa Fe
Minoru Harada, President, Soka Gakkai
Professor Tormod Heier, Former Lieutenant Colonel, Norwegian army
Senator Risa Hontiveros, Senate of the Philippines
Bishop Philip Huggins, Director, Centre for Ecumenical and Interfaith Studies, Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture
Professor Rebecca Ivers, Professor of Public Health, UNSW Sydney
Thorbjorn Jagland, Former Norwegian Prime Minister
Shaukat Ali Jawaid, Chief Editor, Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences
Dr. Ranjith Jayasekera, Vice President, Sri-Lanka Doctors for Peace and Development
Raymond Johansen, Secretary General of Norwegians People’s Aid
Torleif Jonasson, Secretary General, FN-forbundet / Danish United Nations Association
Dr. Arnd Jurgensen, Chair of the Nuclear Weapons Working Group, Science for Peace
Tawakkol Karman, Founder, Tawakkol Karman Foundation, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2011
Professor Jean Marie KAYEMBE NTUMBA, University of Kinshasa
Professor Michael Klare, Secretary of the Board of Directors , Arms Control Association
Dr. Lene Koch, Professor emerita, KU
Yasuyoshi Komizo, former Secretary General, Mayors for Peace
Professor Rakesh Kumar, Executive Editor, Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes
Representative Edcel Lagman, House of Representatives of the Philippines
Professor José Florencio Lapeña, Clinical Professor, University of the Philippines Manila, Philippine General Hospital
Moritz Leuenberger, Former Swiss Federal Councillor
Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1976
Professor Mario Manto, University of Mons, Belgium
Dr. Mary McAleese, Retired President of Ireland
Dr. Ruth Mitchell, BA BSC BMBS MAICD FRACS FFSTEd, Board Chair, international Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1985
Robert Mood, Retired General Norwegian Army
Professor Edvard Moser, Scientific Director, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Professor May-Britt Moser, Scientific Co-Director, Kavli Institute (KISN), NTNU, Norway
Elizabeth Murray, Former Deputy National Intelligence Officer, National Intelligence Council
Dr. Elena Naumova, Professor, Tufts University
David G. Newman, Rule of Law on Earth Project Leader, Rotarian & MBBI member
Dr. Sobechukwu Onwuzu, Senior Lecturer, University of Nigeria
Annica Øygard, Secretary-General, Norwegian Public Health Association (NOPHA)
Hon. Melissa Parke, Executive Director, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2017
Professor Florencia Peña, National School of Antropologý and History, Mexico City
Professor Mark Pieth, Universität Basel
Jose Ramos-Horta, President of East Timor, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1996
Julio Rondinel Cano, Director, Asociación CCEFIRO
Lotte Rørtoft-Madsen, Chairperson, Danish Communist Party
Dr. John-Arne Røttingen, CEO, Wellcome Trust
Dr. Claudio Schuftan, PHM and Consulate of Chile Ho Chi Mi h CityHon
Dr. Ghassan Shahrour, Arab Human Security Network
Professor Sonali Sharma, Executive Editor, RUHS Journal of Health Sciences, Rajasthan University of Health Sciences
Professor Akhtar Sherin, Khyber Medical University Peshawar Pakistan
Professor Abdelmadjid Snouber, Vice President of the Algerian Society of Pulmonology
Jakob Sølvhøj, Former Member of the Danish Parliament
Professor Mirko Spiroski, Founder and Director, Scientific Foundation SPIROSKI, Skopje
Professor Fiona Stanley AC, FAA, FASSA, FAAHMS, Patron The Kids Institute Australia, Professorial Fellow, UWA and University of Western Australia and University of Melbourne
Lill Sverresdatter Larsen, President, Norwegian Nurses Organisation (NNO)
Gunbjørg Svineng, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Tromsø
Rev. William Swing, Founder, United Religions Initiative
Professor Takao Takahara, Senior Fellow, PRIME (International Peace Research Institution Meiji Gakuin University)
Marcel Tanner, President Emeritus, Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences, Professor emeritus of Epidemiology and Medical Parasitology, University of Basel, Director emeritus and Hon. President R. Geigy Foundation
Professor Abel Toriola, Editor-in-Chief, African Journal for Physical Activity and Health Sciences (AJPHES)
Erkki Tuomioja, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs in Finland
Hikmet Sami Tüurk, Former Turkish Defence Minister
Dr. Eugenio Villar, Extraordinary Professor, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia
Professor Semir Vranic, Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Lech Wałęsa, Former President of Poland
Rev. John Wester, Archbishop, Archdiocese of Santa Fe
Professor Jody Williams, Founding Chair, Nobel Women’s Initiative, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1997
Dr. Paul Yonga, Consultant Infectiologist and Clinical Epidemiologist, CA Medlynks Medical Centre and Laboratory
*Names listed in alphabetical order. All affiliations listed for identification purposes only.
