Ireland and NZ co-sponsor UN resolution calling for study on effects of nuclear war

 

A UN General Assembly First Committee resolution tabled last week seeks to mandate an international independent scientific expert study of the effects of nuclear war. The last such UN study was in 1988, more than 30 years ago.

The UN resolution “Nuclear War Effects and Scientific Research” is sponsored by Ireland and New Zealand, and has a significant number of cosponsors.

The resolution seeks specifically to establish a panel of 21 scientific experts, to be appointed by the UN Secretary-General following nominations from Member States and a public call for candidates, to conduct a new UN General Assembly mandated study on the potential effects of nuclear war.

The panel would be charged with “examining the physical effects and societal consequences of a nuclear war on a local, regional and planetary scale, including inter alia the climatic, environmental and radiological effects, and their impacts on public health, global socio-economic systems, agriculture and ecosystems, in the days-weeks-decades following nuclear war, and that it reviews and commissions relevant studies, including modelling where appropriate, and publishes a comprehensive report, makes key conclusions, and identifies areas requiring future research.”

Some of the background and key points for the UN resolution are in this article: Zia Mian, “Nuclear War Effects and Scientific Research: Time for a 21st Century UN Study”.

The Princeton Program on Science and Global Security (SGS) did a special event in support of the resolution at the United Nations First Committee on Disarmament and International Security on 9 October -- “Expert panel on nuclear war impacts and the role of the scientific community”.

The event was organized together with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, and the UN missions of Ireland and NZ. Izumi Nakamitsu (UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs) delivered the opening remarks at this panel.

In the 2020/2021 fiscal year, the US Congress asked the National Academy of Sciences to do a study on nuclear winter (the first such study since the 1980s). It has not yet been published.