24 April, 2000

New York - Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to welcome you to this important meeting. At a time of extraordinary change and challenge in the relations between and within states, we meet to seek progress on a question of vital significance to our common future: how to fulfil the promise of disarmament and non-proliferation embodied in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

In an era of new threats to peace and security, we need to focus more than ever on reducing those weapons of mass destruction that still threaten the very existence of human life on our planet.

This is not a time for complacency when it comes to the threat of nuclear war, as recent events have testified. Nuclear conflict remains a very real, and very terrifying possibility at the beginning of the 21^st Century. Some 35,000 nuclear weapons remain in the arsenals of the nuclear powers, with thousands still deployed on hair-trigger alert. The bi-polar balance of terror may have ended, but the terror of nuclear war remains a real threat. This is the stark reality confronting you today �� a reality that imposes an obligation on us all to use every instrument at our disposal to reduce the threat posed by nuclear weapons.

In the first year of the new millennium, the NPT is needed more than ever. However, it stands today as a paradox. The fact that 187 States are parties to this treaty testifies to its global appeal. Yet real concerns persist over its implementation. Your challenge today and into the future will be to embark on a process that will ensure the full implementation of all the provisions of the treaty by all of the States Parties.

While much remains to be done, I believe there has been genuine progress over the last five years �� progress that should be a source of strength and inspiration to your efforts.

The number of nuclear weapons has reportedly continued to drop since the end of the Cold War. Most nuclear-weapon states have declared they are not producing fissile material for weapons. Some nuclear-weapon states have reduced the readiness of some of their nuclear forces. Former nuclear rivals are now co-operating to reduce threats posed by their weapons. Nuclear safeguards have been strengthened. Memberships in nuclear-weapon-free zones have grown. A Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was negotiated, as called for at the last NPT review conference, and though the treaty is not yet in force, a de facto moratorium on testing is continuing. And only this month, the Russian Parliament ratified the START II treaty, a most welcome development.

Excellencies,

This is an unmistakable record of achievement and hard-won progress. Yet profound challenges face the treaty today �� challenges that require a renewed commitment on the part of all nations �� great and small �� to fulfil the high aims of the NPT.

There have been no nuclear disarmament negotiations for many years concerning strategic or tactical nuclear weapons, despite the pledge in the NPT��s Article VI to pursue such negotiations in good faith, which was underlined in an Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice. The Conference on Disarmament remains the single multilateral negotiating body for disarmament �� yet its efforts to make progress on nuclear disarmament, fissile material, and outer space issues have been frustrated by a lack of consensus.

Excellencies,

Let me turn to the most recent challenge facing us in the area of nuclear disarmament: the growing pressure to deploy national missile defences. This pressure is jeopardizing the ABM Treaty �� which has been called the "cornerstone of strategic stability" �� and could well lead to a new arms race, setbacks for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, and new incentives for missile proliferation. It is my hope that all States will take great care to weigh these dangers and challenges before embarking on a process which may well reduce, rather than enhance, global security.

Excellencies,

I have pointed to these challenges not out of despair, but out of a belief that you have it within your power to meet them successfully and build on the progress achieved over the last five years. I urge you therefore to strengthen and deepen the existing consensus on the general disarmament, non-proliferation, and nuclear energy goals of the treaty. And I urge you to recall that the central themes of the package that led to the treaty��s indefinite extension in 1995 were enhanced accountability and transparency. It is time to convert these principles into concrete actions.

I believe the most effective way of achieving this would be to embark on a results-based treaty review process focusing on specific benchmarks.

Among them would be the entry into force of the CTBT; deep, irreversible reductions in stocks of nuclear weapons, wherever they may be; consolidation of existing nuclear-weapon-free zones and negotiation of new zones; binding security guarantees to non-nuclear-weapon States Parties; and improvements in the transparency of nuclear weapon arsenals and nuclear materials.

Excellencies,

At the beginning of the 21^st Century, it is clear that civil society and non-governmental organizations are critical elements of any successful effort to meet the challenges facing the international community, whatever they may be. I therefore urge you to draw on their knowledge, resources and commitment in the common effort to make the world a safer place for all.

Finally, I propose the convening of a major international conference on ways of eliminating nuclear dangers. This would give us an opportunity to confront this challenge in all its aspects, and would constitute a much needed reaffirmation of political commitment at the highest levels to reducing the dangers that arise both from existing nuclear weapons and from further proliferation. If we can move forward on these fronts, the treaty will have a bright future indeed. If not, I regret to say that the new millennium will have started on an ominous note.

I wish you all success in your deliberations.

Thank you.

Published by the United Nations Department for Disarmament Affairs