Should the NPT do more? Pathways for Comprehensive Risk Reduction and Victim Assistance in the Review Process

This YDCC Policy Brief explores the current state of efforts to advance inclusive risk reduction, victim assistance and environmental remediation within the NPT framework.

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Abstract

While the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons are widely acknowledged, their implications for global governance remain contested in international fora. As a number of states and civil society organizations seek to incorporate the humanitarian agenda into the dialogue around the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), they face resistance from states that rely on nuclear deterrence and stick to security-oriented agendas. This YDCC Policy Brief explores the current state of efforts to advance inclusive risk reduction, victim assistance and environmental remediation within the NPT framework.



DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15182756

Policy recommendations



Policy recommendations in the risk reduction cluster
States parties to both the NPT and TPNW should build synergies by:

  • strengthening transparency measures by adopting the NPDI’s model of specific, actionable frameworks.
  • exploring alignment between TPNW and NPDI transparency approaches.
  • leveraging the Stockholm Initiative’s humanitarian focus.

The N5, TPNW parties and NGOs should pursue targeted engagement by:

  • launching an N5-TPNW expert-level dialogue on security concerns.
  • organizing dedicated deliberations between the N5 Young Professionals Network and TPNW-state youth professionals.

Humanitarian-aligned states and NGOs should advance evidence-based comprehensive approaches by:

  • promoting the understanding that the new UN study on nuclear war effects serves to institutionalize the nuclear taboo’s evidentiary foundations.
  • ensuring the initiative achieves visible and substantive integration within the NPT framework through its formal inclusion in the review process.

Policy recommendations in the victim assistance and environmental remediation cluster
Humanitarian-aligned states and all other NPT parties as well as NGOs should:

  • continue raising the issues of humanitarian consequences and nuclear justice in all relevant forums, including the NPT.
  • translate normative shifts into tangible action.

Humanitarian-aligned states and parties to both the NPT and TPNW should:

  • explore the possibility to establish a “coalition of the willing” within the NPT framework to advance victim assistance.
  • take into consideration the TPNW‘s emerging mechanisms and existing First Committee initiatives.

NWS and NPT parties affected by nuclear weapons use and testing should:

  • respond constructively to legitimate calls for cooperation from affected states.
  • approach such cooperation through pragmatically flexible formats — including bilateral engagement alongside multilateral mechanisms.

Authors

  • Ekaterina Lapanovich

    is a senior lecturer at the Department of Regional Studies, Ural Federal University. She holds Bachelor’s degree in Oriental and African Studies and Master’s degree in International Relations. Ekaterina does teaching and research in the area of international security. Her particular focus is on nuclear deterrence, nuclear disarmament, the humanitarian initiative and the ban treaty. In 2021-2022, she was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation. Ekaterina is also an alumna of the Arms Control Negotiation Academy at Harvard University Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies.

    follow@kat_lapanovich