Ministry Statements & Speeches:
As this Committee meets, conflict is rising and trust is eroding. Civilians bear the cost through displacement, insecurity and loss across generations.
Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine continues to challenge the international rule of law and civilian protection. Gaza’s humanitarian situation remains catastrophic, while conflict persists in Sudan, Yemen and across the wider Middle East.
Strategic competition is intensifying and nuclear risks have increased. Efforts to agree specific rules struggle to keep pace with military technological change. The institutions, agreements and norms needed to manage these risks are under strain.
Multilateralism is not a luxury for stable times. It is how stability is maintained when conditions deteriorate.
Chair,
Nuclear weapons continue to threaten humanity more than eight decades after their first invention. The Pact for the Future reaffirmed a world free of nuclear weapons as a shared international objective. The challenge now is to match that commitment with action.
The third consecutive failure at the 2026 NPT Review conference to reach a consensus outcome was disappointing. However, this must not become a pretext for retreat from existing obligations and commitments. Preserving confidence in the NPT remains essential.
Threats to use nuclear weapons, whether overt or implied, are unacceptable and must not be normalised. We must reduce the role of nuclear weapons in security doctrines and advance their total elimination.
New Zealand supports the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as the clearest legal rejection of nuclear weapons. We urge all States to join. Its First Review Conference this year should strengthen implementation, broaden participation and reinforce the norm against nuclear weapons.
The South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty reinforces that norm and the Pacific’s commitment to peace and security. This made the recent test of a nuclear-capable ballistic missile into the Zone all the more concerning to New Zealand and other Pacific states.
New Zealand continues to strongly support the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty as an essential part of the disarmament and non-proliferation regime.
Chair,
New Zealand remains deeply concerned by challenges facing the global non-proliferation regime. We continue to regret Iran’s failure to resolve outstanding safeguards issues and comply fully with its obligations, and urge its return to full and transparent cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Meanwhile, the DPRK continues to advance its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes in violation of UN resolutions. DPRK must return to compliance with its international obligations.
The Chemical Weapons Convention prohibits the use of chemical weapons. Reports of riot control agents and other toxic chemicals being used as weapons in Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine are deeply concerning. Russia must account for its actions at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Civilian harm from explosive weapons in populated areas and declining funding to address the lasting consequences of conventional weapons put hard-won progress at risk. We must uphold international humanitarian law and strengthen civilian protection.
New Zealand remains firmly committed to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, the Convention on Cluster Munitions, the Arms Trade Treaty and the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons.
Chair,
The development and use of emerging military technologies, including AI, must comply with international law, including international humanitarian law.
After more than a decade of discussions on autonomous weapon systems, New Zealand calls for negotiations on a legally binding instrument establishing effective prohibitions and restrictions and ensuring meaningful human judgement and control over the use of force.
We welcome September’s consensus outcome at the GGE, under the Netherlands’ leadership, and urge States to build on this at November’s CCW Review Conference by agreeing a clear negotiating mandate.
Chair,
As a space-faring nation, New Zealand remains committed to promoting responsible behaviour in outer space. Space-based systems underpin our way of life. Their sustainable use depends on a strong and effective rules-based international system.
All States share an interest in preserving the safety, accessibility and peaceful use of outer space. New Zealand supports strengthening norms, rules and principles that address both behaviours and capabilities to reduce the risks of miscalculation and conflict.
Ahead of the Outer Space Treaty’s 60th anniversary next year, we urge all States to reaffirm its principles and uphold their international obligations, including under Article IV. Keeping outer space free from conflict remains an international security imperative.
Chair,
The same imperative applies in cyberspace. New Zealand remains committed to the norms of responsible state behaviour in cyberspace and reaffirms that international law applies online as it does offline. We welcome the positive start that the new UN Global Mechanism has made, and we look forward to working with States to strengthen implementation of the agreed framework for responsible state behaviour.
Chair,
The human cost of conflict and the dangers of escalation are clear. The UN scientific panel’s report next year will deepen our understanding of the climate effects of nuclear war. But we already know enough to act. States must demonstrate the political will to uphold their obligations, implement their commitments and reverse the current negative security spiral.