Archive for March, 2013

05/03/2013

Civil Society Resolved to Ban Nukes

By Ramesh Jaura   |   IDN-InDepth News*,   Oslo,   3 March 2013  – 

A global movement to outlaw nuclear weapons is in the making with significant support from Norway, which is protected by the U.S. nuclear umbrella as a member of the 28-nation North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This emerged from a two-day ICAN Civil Society Forum in Oslo.

Image: ICAN

Image: ICAN

Some 400 youthful participants gathered in the Norwegian capital on March 2 and 3 ahead of an ‘international conference on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons’, which the five ‘official’ nuclear powers that are also permanent members (P5) of the UN Security Council – United States, Russia, China, France and U.K. – have boycotted in a concerted move that surprised officials and non-governmental organizations at the ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) Forum.

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05/03/2013

“There Are No Small Mistakes With Nuclear Weapons”

By IPPNW*, 3 March 2013 – “There are no small mistakes with nuclear weapons.”

Rutgers professor Alan Robock explains nuclear winter research to the ICAN civil society forum in Oslo | IPPNW

Rutgers professor Alan Robock explains nuclear winter research to the ICAN civil society forum in Oslo | IPPNW

That simple statement by Chatham House research director Patricia Lewis set the theme for the first day of ICAN’s Civil Society Forum on the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, March 2 in Oslo.

The results of the big mistakes, ranging from the destruction of Oslo itself by a 100-kiloton nuclear bomb to the eradication of most life on the planet in a nuclear winter, were described throughout the day in graphic detail by experts on the physical, medical, and environmental effects of nuclear weapons, including Sir Andy Haines of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, IPPNW co-president Ira Helfand, and Rutgers University climate scientist Alan Robock.

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05/03/2013

The Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons

Human Wrongs Watch

By ICAN*, Oslo – Representatives from 130 governments are gathered in Oslo, Norway, from 4 to 5 March 2013 for the Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons.

Source: ICAN

Source: ICAN

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is the civil society partner at the conference, and we presented the below video statement in the opening session, which highlights that any use of nuclear weapons would have catastrophic humanitarian consequences.

The conference is exploring three topics: the immediate humanitarian impact of a nuclear weapon detonation, the wider impact and longer-term consequences, and the humanitarian preparedness and response capacity.

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