Thank you, Chair.

New Zealand welcomes the opportunity this one-day meeting provides to focus international attention on the legacy of nuclear weapons in States affected by their use or testing.

We commend the role of two States directly affected by the legacy of nuclear testing, Kazakhstan and Kiribati, in leading the initiative.

New Zealand supported United Nations resolutions 79/60 and 80/56 which led to this meeting and is pleased to see it come to fruition.

The fact that votes were called on those resolutions underlined the contrasting perspectives on aspects of addressing nuclear legacies.

New Zealand's views on assistance and remediation with respect to nuclear weapons use or testing are inextricably linked to their poisonous legacy in the Pacific.

From the late 1940s to 1996, nuclear tests conducted in the Pacific region by nuclear-armed States generated impacts on people and the environment that continue to be felt today.

Whatever the purported security benefits of the nuclear weapons tested to the nuclear powers concerned, its human and environmental costs fell disproportionately on small communities distant from metropolitan areas and perhaps consequently seen to be of marginal concern.

Those costs of nuclear testing were diverse. While some impacts were undoubtedly short term, others have been intergenerational. Besides physical and psychosocial health concerns, there has been environmental harm including contamination, displacement and disconnection to land, loss of livelihoods and feelings of injustice. The effects of climate change, such as sea level rise, on the structural integrity of nuclear material storage sites, present new concerns.

This lived experience of nuclear legacies has shaped responses and attitudes toward nuclear weapons ever since for States in the Pacific region, including in New Zealand. We and many others have argued, including in our submissions to the Secretary-General's Report on Addressing the Legacy of Nuclear Weapons in 2024, that it makes sense to situate assistance to survivors and environmental remediation within the broader nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation agenda. Until nuclear weapons are eliminated, there is always the possibility of future victims and environmental contamination.

Clearly, we are still a long way from achieving a nuclear weapon-free world. Nevertheless, we commend the Secretary-General's Report as a step in the right direction, including his recommendations.

One key recommendation in his Report was for serious consideration to be given to establishing mechanisms for international cooperation and assistance. This is a topic that has subsequently been raised in a range of international forums, including in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty context and pursued in the Treaty on the Prohibition on Nuclear Weapons.

Another recommendation in the Report was that the United Nations system should, "where appropriate, support efforts to deepen understanding of the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons and facilitate the provision of international cooperation and assistance".

We urge all states to engage in these efforts moving forward. Today's discussion could be a critical moment in a conversation that we hope will deliver tangible results in time for those still living with nuclear legacies.

I thank you.

Share:

• Share on Facebook
• Share on X
• Share on LinkedIn
• with Weibo