2023 World Conference against A and H Bombs – Nagasaki
August 9, 2023

Roland Nivet
French Peace Movement

Good morning to everyone attending the international conference against A and H
bombs on 9 August 2023. Greetings to all the Hibakusha and their families.
Respect for your ongoing efforts to denounce the crimes against humanityof the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and to win the totalelimination of nuclear weapons.
Personally, I'm still as inspired as ever by Kobe's formula, which shows that,united and determined on specific objectives, we can achieve decisive results.
When it comes to eliminating nuclear weapons, we need to be moreaware than ever:• that it is the vast majority of peoples who reject these nuclear weapons,• that we have with us international law, the United Nations, the vast
majority of States, numerous trade unions, political parties and a networkof NGOs throughout the world,• that we have achieved important results such as the ban on chemical andbiological weapons, and with regard to nuclear weapons, the NPT and theTreaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

We must be aware that we, the supporters of peace, are a decisive force
in the face of the military-industrial lobbies and their media supporters.
In the current international context, many people around the world areconcerned about the possible use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
A few days ago, Dmitri Medvedev, former President of Russia and current
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, once again alluded tonuclear weapons, stating that Russia "would not hesitate to use nuclear
weapons if the Ukrainian counter-offensive were successful".
I will now talk about our proposal for an international appeal for the totalelimination of nuclear weapons.
For months now, within the Peace Movement and in our actions, we have felt thegrowing need for a world petition capable of uniting all peoples in the same
demand for the total elimination of nuclear weapons. This need has been
expressed repeatedly.
The idea is to draw up a short petition, translated into as many languages as
possible, and circulated all over the world on all social networks, with thefollowing aims:
to obtain hundreds of millions of signatures around the world. A short, clear,
global appeal should enable many different sensibilities to work together
towards collective awareness andjoint action for nuclear disarmament, peace and human well-being. Everyone shouldbe able to contribute to this success through their own networks and by developing
their own arguments.
This initiative would be likely to give rise to a popular appropriation throughout
the world likely to positively modify the balance of power in favour of the totalelimination of nuclear weapons. The first meeting would be the NPT Review
Conference in 2026.
In making this proposal, we are convinced that we are responding to a
current and deep-rooted aspiration of peoples throughout the world, and aneed to give a new united and mobilising impetus to "world action for thetotal elimination of nuclear weapons".
We have initiated contacts with the World Social Forum that could lead tosupport and therefore a strengthening of support in Latin America and Africa.
Here is the text we are proposing for this global petition:

Global call for the total elimination of nuclear weapons"Nuclear weapons are illegal, dangerous, expensive and immoral.
Their elimination is provided for in the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty andthe Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which came into force on 22
January 2021.
We, citizens of all countries, demand that
all the States of the world to do everything in their power, without delay and incompliance with the above-mentioned treaties, to achieve the total eliminationof nuclear weapons, weapons of terror and weapons of mass destruction.
mass extermination of populations, or even the annihilation of all life on Earth.
We demand that all the resources wasted on these weapons be used for the wellbeing of humanity, the protection of our common planet and the construction of apeaceful world based on justice, solidarity and cooperation".

An initial list of world-renowned signatories from a wide range of sectors needs
to be drawn up, and a strategy devised for circulating the petition, which could
be launched, for example, from Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the International
Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September.
Thank you for your attention.