World Leaders Urged to Prevent Nuclear War, End the Nuclear Arms Race, and Achieve Global Nuclear Abolition
- Natia Ninoshvili
- 6 days ago
- 7 min read
New York, September 26, 2025
World leaders, meeting at a UN High Level Meeting to commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons today, are being called to stand down nuclear forces, end the costly nuclear arms race and commit to achieving the global elimination of nuclear weapons no later than 2045, the 100th anniversary of the United Nations.
The call comes in in a Joint Appeal for Nuclear Abolition Day September 26 from 500 civil society organizations representing peace, disarmament, human rights, environment, business, religious, youth, development and academic communities from around the world. It is endorsed by an additional 800 individuals, including parliamentarians, local body representatives, religious leaders, Nobel Laureates, former diplomats, academics/scientists, medical professionals, youth leaders and regular members of civil society (see below for a small sample list of endorsers).
The Appeal, which is organized by NuclearAbolitionDay.org, highlights that the risk of nuclear war by accident, miscalculation, crisis escalation, or malicious intent, is higher now than ever - with the Doomsday Clock ticking closer to midnight. The use of nuclear weapons by any of the nine nuclear-armed States or their nuclear allies would have catastrophic human, economic, and environmental consequences.
“Nuclear weapons are a hazard for all of humanity and therefore should be dismantled and abolished altogether from the face of our earth our planet our home,” says Ela Gandhi (South Africa), Chairperson of Gandhi Development Trust, Honorary Co-President of Religions for Peace and Granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi.
“On September 26, we face the fact that proliferation of nuclear arms fits the definition of insanity,” says Senator Marilou McPhedran (Canada), Member of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament.
The Appeal attests that the threat and use of nuclear weapons is generally illegal, and that States currently relying on nuclear weapons for their security have an obligation to replace these policies with approaches based on international law and common security, as outlined in the UN Charter.
“The 1996 International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion held that there exists an obligation to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion, negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control,” says Dr. Deepshikha Kumari Vijh (USA), Executive Director of the Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, who will present the appeal to the High-Level Meeting this afternoon. “Nuclear Weapon States are urged to meet this obligation.”
“The lack of engagement and good faith actions by UN Member States on nuclear disarmament is not just disappointing – it’s a dangerous failure,” says Chris Guillot, co-founder of AwareNearth. “We must shift our mindset on nuclear risk now, for the sake of future generations.”
"Let us all build friendship and peace among nations, abolish genocidal nuclear weapons and give hope to Humanity" says Mairead Corrigan Maguirre (Ireland), Nobel Peace Laureate 1976.
September 26 is a significant date. On this day in 1983 a nuclear war was narrowly averted when Colonel Stanislav Petrov, Duty Officer at a Russian nuclear early warning facility, broke protocol by not affirming to senior command an apparent incoming ballistic missile attack from the United States (later confirmed as a false alarm). “If a similar situation of incorrect information about a potential nuclear attack were to arise today, either in the Russian nuclear command and control system or in the US one, it’s doubtful, in the current geopolitical context of explicit nuclear threats, that a latter-day equivalent to Colonel Petrov would be there,” says John Hallam (Australia), Steering Committee Member for NoFirstUseGlobal. “The consequences for everyone and everything would then be catastrophic.”
“One press - millions of horror. Do we really want it?” asks Daria Platushchikhina (Russia), Higher School of Economics student and member of the Pact for a Sustainable Tomorrow.
“Today there are high tensions and armed conflicts involving nuclear armed States, most of whom have nuclear forces on high levels of readiness to be used,” says Marc Finaud (France), Vice-President of Initiatives pour le Désarmement Nucléaire. “It is imperative for them to stand down their nuclear forces and adopt policies never to initiate a nuclear war.”
The appeal laments the human, environmental & economic costs of the $100 billion per year nuclear arms race.
“Global nuclear testing has enabled the manufacture of weapons systems involving the planned death of hundreds of millions of human beings,” reflects General Bernard Norlain (France), Former Air Defense Commander and Air Combat Commander of the French Air Force. “We must strongly denounce the nuclear arms race in which nuclear-armed countries and their allies are engaged.”
The appeal highlights that nuclear disarmament is not utopian but is practical and feasible. “There are a number of pathways to reaching the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons,” says Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director of Western States Legal Foundation. “Nuclear-armed States could negotiate a comprehensive and inclusive nuclear-weapons-convention similar to the Chemical Weapons Convention. Or they could start with a framework agreement on nuclear disarmament and fill in the details of the implementation mechanisms later. Or they could negotiate protocols that would enable them to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Under any of these pathways, the elimination of nuclear weapons no later than 2045 is imperative and is feasible.”
And the appeal is connected to other civil society actions and events around the world to commemorate the day including the social media action Stop Nuclear Weapons: Peace is in our Hands. “Through simple and symbolic actions, we can amplify a collective message: civic engagement and youth participation are essential to achieve a nuclear weapons-free world,” says Natia Ninoshvili, Program Officer for Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament. “Our social media initiative invites people from around the world to take part and send a clear message to take steps forward for nuclear disarmament.”
The appeal highlights commitments made by UN Member States in the Pact for the Future adopted in September last year, to prevent nuclear war and achieve nuclear disarmament for the benefit of current and future generations.
"On September 26, let us take a moment to reflect on the immense destructiveness of nuclear weapons and on how their very existence threatens humanity, our ecosystems, and the possibility for present and future generations to thrive in peace and safety,” says Camilla Braito, Core Team Member of Youth Fusion. “We must speak up — because peace is in our hands, and in our voices."
"Achieving a just peace requires not only the abolition of these weapons but also a commitment to integral human disarmament: to disarm our hearts of hatred, our societies of violence, and our global structures of domination,” says Giulia Bordin, Advocacy Officer for Pax Christi International. "Every treaty signed, every voice raised, every act of solidarity moves us closer to a more just world."
The Appeal concludes: “No time is better than 2025 - the 80th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the establishment of the United Nations – to undertake these actions to achieve a nuclear- weapon-free world to protect current and future generations.”
Contacts:
Alyn Ware (Czechia) +420 773 638867, alyn@pnnd.org
Jackie Cabasso (USA) +1 510 306-0119, wslf@earthlink.net
Dr. Deepshikha Kumari Vijh (USA) deeps@lcnp.org
Chris Guillot (Switzerland) +41 76 802-1882 chrisguillot@awarenearth.org
John Hallam (Australia) johnhallam2011@yahoo.com.au
Camilla Braito (Italy) +39 347 794-3797 camilla@pnnd.org
Sample of Joint Appeal Endorsers
Click here for the full list of 500 organizations and over 1000 additional individuals
Individuals:
Nobuyasu Abe (Japan)
Former UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs
Rabeeah Aburas MP (Libya)
Chairperson, Libyan Parliament Committees for Sustainable Development, Migration, Public Liberties and Human Rights
Tadatoshi Akiba (Japan)
Former Mayor of Hiroshima and President of Mayors for Peace.
Irene Charalambides MP (Cyprus)
Vice President OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
Mairead Corrigan Maguire (Ireland)
Nobel peace laureate1967. Founder, Peace People Ireland
Gareth Evans (Australia)
Former Foreign Minister of Australia
Co-Chair of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament;
Ela Gandhi (South Africa)
Honorary Co-President of Religions for Peace, Grand-daughter of Mahatma Gandhi
Commander Robert Forsyth Ret’d (UK)
Former RN nuclear submarine captain & aerospace exec
Senator Marilou McPhedran O.C. (Canada)
Founder, Women's Legal Education and Action Fund
Oleksandra Matviichuk (Ukraine),
Head of the Center for Civil Liberties.
Nobel Peace Laureate, 2022
Raul Montenegro (Argentina)
Presidente de Fundación para la defensa del ambiente
Right Livelihood Laureate 2004
Christine Muttonen (Austria)
Former President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly;
General Bernard Norlain (France)
Former Air Combat Commander of the French Air Force;
Prof. Giorgio Parisi (Italy)
Emeritus Professor at "La Sapienza" Rome. Nobel Laureate in Physics 2021.
Member US National Academy of Sciences
Kunihiko Shimada (Japan)
Principal Director, Hiroshima Organization for Global Peace (HOPe)
Goran Svilanovic (Serbia)
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia and Montenegro
Professor Vappu Taipale (Finland)
Former Finland Minister of Health and Minister of Social Affairs
Erkki Tuomioja (Finland)
Former Minister for Foreign Affairs
Organizations:
Asia Pacific Leadership Network (Asia-Pacific)
Back from the Brink Coalition (USA)
Blue Banner (Mongolia)
British Pugwash (UK)
Canadian Voice of Women for Peace (Canada)
Centre for Peacebuilding Organizations (Nigeria)
Civic Coalition for Human Rights (Palestine)
Club G100 Global Women Network (International)
CND Cymru (Wales, UK)
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in Wales
Danske Læger Mod Kernevåben (Denmark)
Danish Affiliate of IPPNW.
Human Survival Project (Australia)
ICAN Aotearoa (New Zealand)
ICAN Australia (Australia)
Initiatives for Nuclear Disarmament (France)
Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace (USA)
International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (International)
International Fellowship of Reconciliation
International Peace Bureau (International)
Nobel Peace Prize Recipient, 1910
Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy (USA)
Medact/IPPNW UK (UK)
Mayors for Peace (International)
Middle East Treaty Organization (Israel)
Mouvement de la paix (France)
Movement for the Abolition of War (UK)
Nobel Women’s Initiative (Canada)
Pact for a Sustainable Tomorrow (Kenya)
Parliament of the World's Religions (International)
Pax Christi International (International)
Peace Action (USA)
Peace Depot (Japan)
Physicists Coalition for Nuclear Threat Reduction (USA)
PSR/IPPNW Suisse (Switzerland)
Pugwash France (France)
Science for Peace (Canada)
United for Peace and Justice (USA)
United Nations Association of Chile (Chile)
United Nations Association of New York (USA)
Voices for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons (Intrnl)
Women’s Initiatives Human Rights Foundation (Libya)
WLPF US (USA)
World BEYOND War (International)
World Future Council (International)
World's Youth for Climate Justice (International)
Youth Fusion (International)
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