Co-Presidents and colleagues, I am honoured to represent the UK, and I thank Italy and South Africa for bringing us together today.
The UK would like to reaffirm its strong support for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and for the organisation that underpins it.
We welcome this opportunity to garner support for the Treaty’s entry-into-force, which we have advocated for twenty-five years.
Our goal is very simple: to bring an end to nuclear weapon test explosions, anywhere on the planet.
Each signature and ratification takes us closer to this goal.
I therefore welcome the ratifications by Cuba and the Union of the Comoros since the last Conference, and I call on the remaining Annex 2 States to sign or ratify the Treaty.
The UK condemns the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s continued development of illegal nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
We call for the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of North Korea.
I know I speak for many of us when I urge the country to resume dialogue with the international community.
We call on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to sign and ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
Though entry-into-force has not yet become a reality, we should be clear how much the Treaty Organisation delivers.
It makes it extremely difficult for would-be proliferators.
And with a verification regime now over 90% complete, it not only detects explosions, but also natural disasters.
It contributes to tsunami early-warning detection, and measures the impact of climate change.
I congratulate Dr Robert Floyd on his recent appointment as Executive Secretary of the CTBTO.
We look forward to working with you, to progress entry-into-force, and strengthen the verification system, as the Treaty turns twenty-five.
We will raise those benefits at the NPT Review Conference when that is able to proceed.
The UK is an enthusiastic participant in all of the Organisation’s work.
We are a vocal campaigner in multilateral forums, and one of the largest contributors, providing £4.5 million annually.
We give technical and political support to the Preparatory Commission, and host thirteen facilities that support the International Monitoring System.
Co-Presidents, I conclude by welcoming the assessed contributions. I urge States yet to pay, to do so.
It is our collective responsibility to sustain the Organisation and promote the Treaty’s entry-into-force, as a step towards our shared goal, of a world without nuclear weapons.
ENDS
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