UN Chief Urges Efforts To Put Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Into Force

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the world to ratify a treaty prohibiting all nuclear tests.

According to Xinhua, Guterres made the appeal in his message to mark International Day Against Nuclear Tests, which falls on Monday.

Nuclear testing has long poisoned the planet’s natural environment, as well as the species and people who live there, according to the UN Secretary-General, who noted that the International Day Against Nuclear Tests serves as a “warning bell for the world to finally put in place a legally binding prohibition on all nuclear tests.”

“With nuclear risks reaching new heights, now is the time for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty to come into full force, underpinned by an effective verification system,” said Guterres.

“On this important day, I call on the world to act for the health and survival of people and planet alike,” he said. “Let’s ensure the end of testing now and forever, and consign nuclear weapons to history, once and for all.”

On December 2, 2009, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution designating August 29 as International Day Against Nuclear Tests.

The resolution was introduced to commemorate the closure of Kazakhstan’s Semipalatinsk nuclear test site on August 29, 1991.

Source:OCN