Norway’s efforts to promote disarmament and non-proliferation
Article | Last updated: 17/01/2022 | Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is the cornerstone of the global disarmament and non-proliferation regime.
The NPT has helped to safeguard global security for over 50 years. The NPT regime has succeeded in preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and has provided the foundation for disarmament efforts from the 1990s to the present. In today’s challenging security environment, where there is increasing global polarisation and countries such as China and Russia are behaving in a way that encourages an arms race, it is crucial to support the NPT and promote effective measures that countries can unite behind.
The NPT rests on three main pillars: nuclear non-proliferation, the peaceful use of nuclear energy and disarmament. Norway works systematically to safeguard the NPT and promote its three pillars. Key focus areas are: nuclear disarmament verification; efforts to secure, and increase transparency with regard to, fissile materials; measures to reduce the risk of nuclear weapons being used; efforts to promote broad-based participation; and competence- and capacity-building in the areas of disarmament and arms control. Norway has led international disarmament verification efforts for a number of years. Norway is also working to enhance understanding of disarmament and the principle of irreversibility. This is crucial in order to build confidence in future disarmament processes.
The nuclear programmes in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Iran underline the importance of a robust, global non-proliferation regime. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has an important mandate to monitor states parties’ compliance with their non-proliferation obligations. As chair of the DPRK Sanctions Committee, Norway supports the Security Council’s decision that the DPRK must abandon all its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile activities.
Norway has a high profile in the area of nuclear disarmament, and intends to further intensify its efforts to achieve a world without nuclear weapons. Norway will participate as an observer at the meeting of states parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).