So just what IS a Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone?

When you think about it, individual countries are really just large groups of people, and most of us would rather not be annihilated. So, to protect their homelands and environments, people in nearby countries began agreeing to keep their regions free of nuclear weapons. In these “Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones”, governments agree not to build, deploy or host nuclear weapons, for the good of the planet. The United Nations is very supportive of these efforts, but since NWFZs are decentralized, there’s no single entity that can decide whether a group can or can’t be an NWFZ - so we just have to get a few countries together and agree on that. So far, there’s been five NWFZ treaties signed, covering Antarctica; Latin America and the Caribbean; the South Pacific; Southeast Asia; and Africa. The country of Mongolia has declared itself to be a nuclear weapons-free zone... and even the Moon and outer space have all been agreed to be nuclear weapons- free.

In Alaska in 1986 a nuclear freeze referendum passed with 58% of the vote stating “the prevention of nuclear war is the greatest challenge facing the Earth and that the nuclear arms race dangerously increases the risk of a war that would destroy humanity." The measure also promoted a "mutual and verifiable nuclear weapons freeze, to be followed by nuclear weapons reduction." Lastly, the measure directed the Alaska governor "to conduct the state's affairs in conformity with the initiative's goals." (Ballot Measure No. 1, Initiative 83-03). Still, an Arctic NWFZ is needed for international cooperation.

learn MORE about NWF Zones:

POINT HOPE CONGRESS WEBINAR: ACHIEVING AN ARCTIC NUCLEAR-WEAPON-FREE ZONE

RECORDING DATE: Friday, June 12th, 2020

YOUTUBE LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQwoCnVkZWg&t=5s

Chapter 100 of Veterans For Peace, based in Juneau, Alaska, invites you to view a conversation on strategies for achieving an Arctic Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone (ANWFZ). This webinar features a 30-minute presentation by Dr. Adele Buckley (Canadian Pugwash Group). Dr. Buckley is is a physicist, engineer and environmental scientist, ​with a long history of advocacy for an Arctic NWFZ. In her presentation, she discusses the history of movements calling for an Arctic NWFZ and current opportunities for progress. Her presentation are followed by an open conversation and dialogue on how to move forward in this current moment.

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