September 26, 2025 – Speaking at the Plenary Meeting on the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, UN Chef de Cabinet Courtenay Rattray, delivering remarks on behalf of the Secretary-General, issued a stark warning about the growing peril of nuclear weapons. He described a world haunted by a persistent threat, one born of human creation and sustained by collective failure to act decisively.
Reflecting on the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, Rattray highlighted the enduring legacy of the hibakusha—survivors whose Nobel Peace Prize-winning advocacy continues to inspire global calls for peace. Yet, he cautioned, the world is witnessing an alarming resurgence of nuclear dangers, with new weapons, renewed testing threats, and fading diplomatic efforts amplifying risks. The rhetoric of nuclear saber-rattling, he noted, is louder than at any time in recent decades, unraveling decades of progress in reducing arsenals and halting tests.
“We are stumbling into a new, more volatile nuclear arms race,” Rattray warned, pointing to emerging technologies like hypersonic missiles, deep-sea drones, and cyber warfare that heighten the risk of catastrophic miscalculations across domains from cyberspace to outer space. This crisis, he stressed, reflects not only a proliferation of weapons but a failure of memory, duty, and resolve.
To address this, the Secretary-General has launched an Independent Scientific Panel to study the impacts of nuclear conflict, ensuring responses are rooted in robust evidence. Rattray rejected the notion that disarmament hinges on ideal conditions, citing Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as a binding obligation without exceptions. “Disarmament is not a byproduct of peace—it is its cornerstone,” he asserted.
Urging immediate action, he called on nuclear-armed states to resume dialogue, implement transparency measures, and ensure human oversight in all nuclear decisions to prevent errors. He pressed for universal ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty to end the toxic legacy of testing and demanded support for victims of nuclear use, whose lands and health bear enduring scars.
Rattray singled out the United States and Russia, urging them to negotiate deeper cuts to their arsenals. Without such steps, he warned, humanity risks consigning future generations to live under the shadow of past mistakes. “On this day, let us commit to bold, united action to forge a world free of nuclear threats,” he concluded, calling for courage and concrete progress toward total elimination.
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