Growing Concerns After the NPT Review Conference 2026

The Eleventh Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), held at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 27 April to 22 May 2026 has come to an end.

No conditions were met for the adoption of a consensual final document regarding the measures to be taken to reinvigorate commitments on nuclear disarmament and to strengthen the transparency mechanisms provided for under the Treaty.

The Conference was attended by a Pax Christi International delegation, composed of Mary Yelenick (PCI UN Main Representative, New York), Anthony Donovan (PCI UN Representative, New York), and Sr Carol Gilbert (Catholic Peace Advocate).

Beyond the failure to reach an agreement, what most concerns peace organisations is the fact that the main obstructive stance appeared to come from nuclear-armed States. Although 189 countries have now ratified the Treaty, an imbalance in compliance persists, which is reflected in the overall structure of the international security order.

Despite the absence of a final agreement, several UN Missions sponsored and participated in events organised by NGOs and civil society, which sought to highlight the inequalities that too often characterise discussions on nuclear weapons. Pax Christi International co-organised a side event, together with Veterans for Peace and the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, held on 12 May.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the event, we explored the links between the global war economy, nuclear weapons production, and ongoing violence, drawing on findings from Francesca Albanese’s 2025 report, and highlighting how many corporations and institutions involved in nuclear weapons are also connected to broader systems of conflict and profit.

At the conclusion of the Conference, it is important to clarify that a weak outcome, or even the absence of an outcome, does not signify the end of the NPT. However, decisive and resolute action is urgently needed to ensure that its principles are upheld as the cornerstone from which to build a peaceful future free from nuclear threats. If, as has been repeatedly affirmed, the Treaty represents the cornerstone of this process, then its foundations cannot continue to be undermined.

 

Pax Christi International reiterates the urgent need for renewed political courage and moral responsibility to prevent further erosion of the global disarmament framework. We call on States Parties and the international community to:

• Uphold the integrity of the NPT by rejecting nuclear threats and practices that undermine disarmament commitments.
• Advance concrete nuclear disarmament through transparent reductions in arsenals and an end to nuclear modernisation programmes.
• Redirect nuclear spending towards human development, climate actions, healthcare, poverty eradication and peacebuilding.
• Support independent scientific research on the humanitarian and environmental consequences of nuclear weapons, including through the new UN scientific panel.
• Strengthen support for the TPNW through signature, ratification, victim assistance and environmental remediation initiatives.

 

We also encourage Catholic and faith leaders to start and continue speaking out against nuclear deterrence and its immorality and to promote a culture of peace, nonviolence and integral human disarmament and security.

The path towards nuclear abolition, as Mary Yelenick recalls in her report, cannot be pursued solely through international institutions: civil society, too, must commit itself to peace every day, advancing along a path sustained by truth and historical memory, one that does not allow us to forget that, in the end, the only viable path forward is that of peace.

 

Read Mary Yelenick’s full report here

Read the Reaching Critical Will document here