radiation

Nuclear Prayer Day – Hiroshima / Nagasaki Interfaith Peace Gathering

Namaste,

Please join us! For Nuclear Prayer Day – Hiroshima / Nagasaki Interfaith Peace Gathering on Friday, August 5, 2022, from 2:00 pm onwards, both virtually and in-person at Tillman Chapel, Church Center for the United Nations, 777 UN Plaza, New York, NY 10017.

Zoom Meeting ID: 898 4657 1811

Link: us02web.zoom.us/j/89846571811 

Livestream: facebook.com/unitedreligionsinitiative

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngodisarm.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns-NY, please visit csvgc-ny.org.

Nuclear weapons & climate change: Intergenerational action for a sustainable world

UNFOLD ZERO joins our partners Youth Fusion and Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament in inviting you to a unique event Nuclear Weapons and Climate Change on September 9.

The event, which is held in commemoration of the International Day Against Nuclear Tests, brings youth leaders in nuclear abolition and climate action together with legislators, experts and civil society leaders in a dynamic inter-generational dialogue.

Nuclear Weapons and Climate Change will focus on two of our time’s most pressing global challenges: climate change and the threat of nuclear war, as well as the links between them. It is structured as an intergenerational dialogue of youth leaders with legislators, experts, officials and other participants.

This will be a hybrid event with some speakers and invited guests participating in-person at the event hub, while most others will participate online.

Time: 2-4pm London / 9-11am Eastern Time USA / 3-5pm Central Europe / 7-9pm Kazakhstan

UNFOLD ZERO is a platform for United Nations (UN) focused initiatives and actions for the achievement of a nuclear weapons free world. It’s an affiliated network of Abolition 2000 and a joint project of Basel Peace Office, Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign, PNND, PragueVision, Aotearoa Lawyers for Peace and Global Security Institute.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Intergenerational Solidarity, please email the vice chair at susanneseperson@gmail.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Children’s Rights-NY, please visit childrightsny.org.

International Day Against Nuclear Tests

Since nuclear weapons testing began on 16 July 1945, over 2,000 have taken place. In the early days of nuclear testing little consideration was given to its devastating effects on human life, let alone the dangers of nuclear fallout from atmospheric tests. Hindsight and history have shown us the terrifying and tragic effects of nuclear weapons testing, especially when controlled conditions go awry, and in light of the far more powerful and destructive nuclear weapons that exist today.

On 2 December 2009, the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly declared 29 August the International Day against Nuclear Tests by unanimously adopting resolution 64/35. The resolution calls for increasing awareness and education “about the effects of nuclear weapon test explosions or any other nuclear explosions and the need for their cessation as one of the means of achieving the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world.” The resolution was initiated by the Republic of Kazakhstan, together with a large number of sponsors and cosponsors with a view to commemorating the closure of the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test site on 29 August 1991.

2010 marked the inaugural commemoration of the International Day against Nuclear Tests. In each subsequent year, the day has been observed by coordinating various activities throughout the world, such as symposia, conferences, exhibits, competitions, publications, lectures, media broadcasts and other initiatives.

Since its establishment, many bilateral and multilateral governmental level developments as well as broad movements in civil society have helped to advance the cause of banning nuclear tests.

Moreover, “convinced that nuclear disarmament and the total elimination of nuclear weapons are the only absolute guarantee against the use or threat of nuclear weapons,” the General Assembly designated 26 September as the “International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons”, which is devoted to furthering the objective of the total elimination of nuclear weapons, through the mobilization of international efforts. The International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons was observed for the first time in September 2014. The International Day against Nuclear Tests, together with other events and actions, has fostered a global environment that strongly advocates for a world free of nuclear weapons.

The international instrument to put an end to all forms of nuclear testing is the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Unfortunately, this has yet to enter into force.

As the Secretary-General recognized in his disarmament agenda “Securing our Common Future” launched on 24 May 2018, the norm against testing is an example of a measure that serves both disarmament and non-proliferation objectives. By constraining the development of advanced new types of nuclear weapons, the CTBT puts a brake on the arms race. It also serves as a powerful normative barrier against potential States that might seek to develop, manufacture and subsequently acquire nuclear weapons in violation of their non-proliferation commitments.

Every effort needs to be made to ensure the entry into force of the CTBT and to preserve its place in the international architecture. In this regard, the Secretary-General appeals to all remaining States whose ratifications are required for the CTBT to enter into force to commit to sign the Treaty at an early date if they have not already done so, and to accelerate the completion of their ratification processes.

It is the hope of the UN that one day all nuclear weapons will be eliminated. Until then, there is a need to observe International Day against Nuclear Tests as the world works towards promoting peace and security.

To learn more about the background and significance of this observance, please visit un.org/en/observances/end-nuclear-tests-day.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@gmail.com or bknotts@uua.org. 

Some are Hazardous Environmental Legacy Sites, some are Monsters: Why sustainable development needs to include environmental crime

The Committee on Sustainable Development cordially invites its member organisations to a talk by Prof. Verena Winiwarter (BOKU) on Some are Hazardous Environmental Legacy Sites, some are Monsters: Why sustainable development needs to include environmental crime.

Time 6:30pm – 8:30pm (Vienna)/ 12:30 – 2:30pm EST

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87097371746?pwd=SHp0b3ROWnlCSzZmMzJ6TlFmWU1PUT09

Meeting ID: 870 9737 1746       Kenncode: 240089

About Verena Winiwarter

Professor of Environmental History at Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt since 2007, Verena Winiwarter transferred to BOKU 2018 with the Institute of Social Ecology. She holds a PhD in Environmental History (1998) and a venia legendi in Human Ecology (2003) from University of Vienna. Since 2016, she is a full member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OEAW), Chairperson of the Commission for Interdisciplinary Ecological Studies, and co-founded the European Society of Environmental History. Her main research interests comprise the history of landscapes, in particular rivers and the environmental history of soils and legacy sites. Her 2014 co-authored book “Umwelt hat Geschichte. Sechzig Reisen durch die Zeit” was elected as Wissenschaftsbuch des Jahres in Austria and Umweltbuch des Jahres in Germany and is now in its 3rd imprint. In 2013, she was „WissenschaftlerIn des Jahres“ in Austria and in December 2019 she was awarded the “Preis der Stadt Wien für Geisteswissenschaften”.

To register please send an e-mail to the secretary (ngocsd.vienna@gmail.com). We look forward to seeing you!

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com.