Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Consequences of Nuclear Weapons

Vienna Hofburg Palace, 8–9/12/2014

A world without nuclear weapons is a goal shared by all humanity. Yet, so far, it has remained elusive. An estimated 16.300 nuclear weapons still exist nearly 25 years after the end of the cold war. Today, nine states are believed to possess nuclear weapons, but as nuclear technology is becoming more available, more states, and even non-state actors, may strive to develop nuclear weapons in the future.

As long as nuclear weapons exist

Atomic weapons bear the risk of their use by

• design,
• miscalculation or madness,
• technical or human error

Nuclear weapons

bear an unacceptable risk to humanity and to all life on earth. Any use of nuclear weapons could cause gravest humanitarian emergencies and have catastrophic global consequences on the environment, climate, health, social order, human development and the economy.

A single detonation of a modern nuclear weapon

would cause destruction and human suffering on a scale far exceeding the devastation seen in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. No State or international body would be able to provide adequate assistance. Nuclear weapons continue to pose an existential threat to all humankind.  These risks are not abstract. They are real, more serious than previously known and can never be eliminated completely.

Latest Campains Against Atomic Weapons

In the past few years, a growing number of states and many civil society actors focussed on the humanitarian consequences and risks associated with nuclear weapons through different national, regional and international events and activities.

Two international conferences on the humanitarian consequences and risks of nuclear weapons

In Oslo Conference: Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear weapons Oslo, Norway 4-5 March 2013 and in Nayarit, Mexico, in February 2014.

This increased the focus on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons is an important development and had a positive and uniting effect on international discussions about nuclear weapons.

The more the international community discusses and understands the scale of these consequences and of the risks involved, the clearer the case and the stronger the sense of urgency become for the elimination of nuclear weapons.

The government of Austria

is proud to host the 3rd international conference on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons which will take place on 8 and 9 December 2014 at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. With this conference, Austria wishes to strengthen

• the global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime and
• to contribute to the growing momentum to firmly anchor the humanitarian imperative in all global efforts dealing with nuclear weapons and nuclear disarmament.

The Vienna Conference will

• be open to all interested parties. All states will receive official invitations and will be invited to nominate experts and/or senior officials. International organizations and civil society representatives with relevant expertise will also be welcome;
• feature facts based discussions and expert presentations and aims to allow for an interactive debate among participants;
• Will also provide delegations an opportunity for statements of a more general nature;

Plans are also in preparation for a limited sponsorship program for LDC participants.

More detailed information about the agenda, registration and logistics as well as information for media will be available on the website:

http://www.bmeia.gv.at/en/foreign-ministry/foreign-policy/disarmament/weapons-of-mass-destruction/nuclear-weapons/vienna-conference-on-the-humanitarian-consequences-of-nuclear-weapons.html

Links

Official Website of the Oslo Conference

Official Website of the Nayarit Conference

Press release Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz of 13 February 2014

Twitter: #HINW14vienna

http://www.icanaustria.at/english/austria-at-the-forefront-of-nuclear-disarmament/