On January 22, 2021, nuclear weapons may be banned. That after Honduras became the 50th state to adopt the UN Nuclear Weapons Convention. All nuclear weapons states have boycotted the agreement, but Svenska Fred's chairman Agnes Hellström believes that the agreement will still have major effects.
October 24 this year was Honduras the 50th state to ratify, that is, stand behind, the UN Nuclear Weapons Convention. This means that the convention will enter into force on 22 January 2021. conventions prohibits, among other things, the use, manufacture, testing, posting and threats to use nuclear weapons.
-This is really a historic event. Once and for all, we have banned nuclear weapons, says Agnes Hellström, chairman of Svenska Freds.
Humanitarian consequences in focus
Swedish Peace is a part of ICAN, which is an umbrella organization that for several years has campaigned against nuclear weapons and for the adoption of the UN Convention on Nuclear Weapons. UN Nuclear Weapons Convention differs from previous disarmament agreements as it completely bans nuclear weapons and emphasizes the humanitarian and environmental consequences of nuclear weapons.
- Today there are enough nuclear weapons to wipe out humanity several times over. Thanks to the agreement, it has come up on the agenda. The more we raise the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, the stronger I think public opinion against nuclear weapons will be, says Agnes.

Nuclear weapons states not included
All nuclear weapons states (USA, Russia, China, Great Britain, France, North Korea, India, Pakistan and Israel) has boycotted the negotiations of the Convention and neither signored or ratified the agreement. Agnes Hellström believes that the reactions from the nuclear weapon states have been contradictory:
- One moment the nuclear states argue that the convention will have no effect, the next they urge states not to sign. I think they feel affected by the agreement.
Agnes highlights that it is common for weapons-producing states to stand outside bans. She draws an analogy to the ban on anti - personnel mines, which was adopted in 1997.
- The USA, China and Russia are examples of previous large producers of anti-personnel mines that have never joined the agreement. Despite this, all three have more or less ceased their production of mines.
Agnes therefore believes that it is important to ban nuclear weapons because a ban has a norm-creating effect and can delegitimize the use, development and possession of nuclear weapons. Agnes further emphasizes that a ban can have decisive financial consequences. When a weapon is illegal, weapon manufacturers find it more difficult to finance their production. Banks, pension funds and other financial institutions do not want to invest to the same extent in something that is prohibited.
- If the interest in financing and investing in the type of weapon decreases, it will affect the entire industry. It will be more difficult to develop and modernize nuclear weapons because it will be a weapon no one wants to be associated with, says Agnes.
Want to see change
When Agnes looks ahead, she hopes that countries will continue to support the UN Nuclear Weapons Convention.
- The majority of the world's countries need to show what we want to see for change. If we are to wait for the nuclear-weapon states to want to relinquish power, we will have to wait our whole lives. It is by organizing the grassroots that change takes place. With collective strength, we force them to listen, she says.
Facts nuclear weapons
Idag finns det omkring 13 400 kärnvapen i världen varav cirka 1800 är “high operational alert” vilket betyder att de är redo att avfyras inom några minuter. Nio stater innehar kärnvapen - USA, Ryssland, Kina, Nordkorea, Storbritannien, Frankrike, Indien, Pakistan och Israel (Israel har aldrig förnekat eller bekräftat att de innehar kärnvapen) - men USA och Ryssland står tillsammans för 90% av arsenalerna. Flera internationella avtal har slutits för att begränsa spridningen och testningen av kärnvapen. FN:s kärnvapenkonvention är det senaste avtalet och också det första att helt förbjuder kärnvapen under internationell lag.
Source: Sipri, Swedish UN Federation.