General Assembly Marks International Day against Nuclear Tests, Adopts Texts Establishing Observances for ‘Greening the Planet’, Safe AI

General Assembly Marks International Day against Nuclear Tests, Adopts Texts Establishing Observances for 'Greening the Planet', Safe AI

Meeting to commemorate the International Day against Nuclear Tests 35 years after the closure of the Semipalatinsk test site, speakers in the General Assembly today used the occasion to reflect on why testing moratoria must be upheld, as they also adopted resolutions related to greening the planet, missing persons, safe artificial intelligence (AI) and the participation of Indigenous Peoples in the work of the United Nations.

The General Assembly declared 29 August the International Day against Nuclear Tests in 2009, following efforts by Kazakhstan to advance this proposal in the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security). Relatedly, 2026 marks 30 years since the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty was opened for signature. However, it has not yet entered into force, as nine States still must ratify the treaty.

"For some, that is evidence of the limitation of multilateralism," observed Annalena Baerbock (Germany), President of the General Assembly. However, today provides an opportunity to push back against a narrative focused on what has not been achieved. She recalled that more than 2,000 nuclear test explosions were conducted worldwide before the Treaty opened for signature. Since 1996, that number has fallen to fewer than 12. "That is the true measure of its impact - of this special Treaty - and it is a success we must build on," she urged.

High Representative Cautions: 'No Return to the Past'

Similarly, Izumi Nakamitsu, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, pointed to the Treaty's verification regime as a "remarkable achievement in multilateral disarmament and non-proliferation". Yet, while its technical achievements are significant, only the Treaty's entry into force can establish a permanent, legally binding prohibition on nuclear testing. She urged the remaining nine required States to ratify the accord. Until then, all States possessing nuclear weapons must maintain moratoria on all nuclear explosive testing. She underscored: "There can be no exceptions and no return to the past."

Providing further detail was Robert Floyd, Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, who pointed out that "our systems today can detect tests far smaller than what the Treaty negotiators expected". Originally designed to detect tests with a yield of 1,000 tons of TNT equivalent, the International Monitoring System can now detect tests with half of that yield - just over 3 per cent of the power of the bomb that devastated Hiroshima. The Treaty's success is built on both science and confidence. While the former is working, the latter is under strain, and he called for building confidence - "especially for low-yield testing below the level of 500 tons".

Verify, Verify, Verify

As for the science, Magdalene Wangui Wanyaga, geoscientist and expert on the Treaty Organization's verification regime, said more than 300 monitoring facilities around the world provide the capacity to detect nuclear explosions through seismic, hydroacoustic, infrasound and radionuclide technology. "This is what makes the norm credible," she observed, despite that the Treaty has yet to enter into force. "We must continue to strengthen the norm against nuclear testing, sustain the scientific capacity that verifies it and invest in people who carry this work forward," she urged.

Offering a reason to do so, Tina Cordova - Co-Founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium - spotlighted the negative health effects suffered by the people of New Mexico due to radiation exposure from the Trinity test detonation. "We were the first people exposed to radiation anyplace in the world," she said, but nuclear testing across the globe "has likely produced millions of 'downwinders'". Recalling that five generations of her family have been afflicted with cancer, she underscored that "my family is not unique". And, while those gathered today cannot be held accountable for the sins of the past, she stressed: "We most assuredly should be held accountable if we repeat them."

The official number of victims from testing at the Semipalatinsk site is 1.5 million people, noted Karipbek Kuyukov, artist, humanitarian advocate and goodwill ambassador of Kazakhstan - "although the real number is much higher, of course". He recalled that his parents witnessed this first-hand, as their first two children died. "After those two infant deaths, I was born without any arms," he said, adding that "there were many such victims". He recalled visiting a museum honouring them - where, on the shelves, "you have all sorts of terrible foetuses in ethanol" - and emphasized: "This made me understand that my fate could have been the same."

A Duty to Bequeath Safe World to Next Generations

Today, the planet finds itself in a "very tense" moment, he said, as nuclear sabre rattling makes its way back into public discourse - a point echoed repeatedly today. "It is high time to radically change the situation," he said, "and the only way to do this is together." Past errors must be forgiven, but now "we are duty-bound to bequeath a safe world for our children", he stressed. Kazakhstan has lived without any nuclear tests for 35 years, and this is an example that other countries should follow. He asked: "Does humanity need nuclear weapons?"

In the debate that followed, the representative of Qatar - speaking for the Arab Group - called for upholding the moratoria on testing, pressing Israel to accede to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as its capacities threaten the security of Arab and other countries. Andorra's representative, speaking for Western European and other States, described the Russian Federation's unprecedented decision to revoke its ratification as "a serious setback" to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

The representative of Australia - speaking for the Group of Friends of that Treaty - agreed, also condemning the six nuclear tests conducted by Pyongyang. "We are determined to relegate nuclear testing to history," he said. The representative of the European Union, speaking in its observer capacity, expressed full confidence in the Treaty's verification regime and stressed that completion of the International Monitoring System remains a priority "even in the context of a zero nominal growth budget".

Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zones Point the Way Forward

Finally, pointing the way forward were the representatives of Uruguay, speaking for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Burundi, speaking for the African States, and the Philippines, speaking for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), who all spotlighted the nuclear-weapons-free zones established by the Treaties of Tlatelolco, Pelindaba and Bangkok, respectively.

Assembly Proclaims International Days for 'Greening the Planet', Safe Artificial Intelligence, Women Searchers of Missing Persons

Taking up various agenda items in the afternoon, the Assembly first adopted a draft resolution, introduced by Kazakhstan's representative, titled "International Day of Greening the Planet" (document A/80/L.105) by a recorded vote of 140 in favour to 1 against (United States), with 3 abstentions (Canada, Honduras, Samoa), deciding to observe the International Day annually on 22 April.

The Assembly also adopted a draft, introduced by Tajikistan's delegate, titled "International Day of Safe, Secure and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence" (document A/80/L.106) by a recorded vote of 144 in favour to 2 against (Israel, United States), with 3 abstentions (Argentina, Canada, Samoa), designating 31 August as the International Day, to be observed annually beginning in 2027.

Acting without a vote, the Assembly adopted a resolution titled "International Day of Recognition for Women Searchers of Missing Persons" (document A/80/L.108), proclaiming 19 December as an annual International Day by the same name. That text was introduced by the representative of Syria, who noted that his country - under the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad - would have strongly objected to such a draft. Today, in contrast, Syria is one of its main sponsors.

While several speakers welcomed all three adoptions, some - including the representatives of Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina and Mexico - raised concerns over the proliferation of new international UN days, months and years, citing both overlap and the burden that new commemorations place on an already-stretched UN system.

The representative of the United States strongly agreed with that assessment, describing new international days as "wasteful" and "juvenile". However, the resolution on missing persons is a rare and notable exception to the United States' principled stance on international days, given its serious subject matter and the remarkable strides made by Syria's new Government.

Greater Participation for Indigenous Peoples

In other business, the Assembly adopted a draft resolution titled "Enhancing the participation of Indigenous Peoples' representatives and representative institutions in meetings of relevant United Nations bodies on issues affecting them" (document A/80/L.107). That text was adopted by a recorded vote of 138 in favour to 3 against (Argentina, Israel, United States), with 6 abstentions (Ethiopia, Iran, New Zealand, Türkiye, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania).

And, acting without a vote, the Assembly also adopted a draft decision titled "2028 United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development" (document A/80/L.109).

In addition, the Assembly took note of a recent decision by Chile to withdraw its membership from the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (document A/80/777).