By Jonathan Frerichs, Pax Christi International Main Representative at UN Geneva

2026 is a milestone on the way to a future free of nuclear weapons. On 22 January 2026, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is five years old. A global majority of 97 states has now signed this historic accord. Pax Christi International applauds those 97 governments and urges all states to follow their lead. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which includes Pax Christi and hundreds of other civil society organizations, calls all governments to do so as well.

Atomic bombs were used against one nation at the end of World War Two. The victors in that war began a nuclear arms race shortly thereafter. Today, 81 years into the nuclear age, there are nine nuclear-armed states. This is serious cause for alarm. The de facto taboo against using nuclear weapons may have strengthened during the détente which followed the Cold War. But now Russia and USA, the main nuclear powers, are flaunting their mass destructive prowess once again.

During the current war on Ukraine, Russia’s leader has threatened to use nuclear weapons against states without nuclear weapons if they are allied with nuclear powers. Ukraine is supported to varying degrees by three nuclear powers-USA, United Kingdom and France. US President Trump has sent nuclear-capable bombers halfway around the world to bomb nuclear enrichment facilities in Iran.

Nuclear weapons pose a grave threat to humanity. Now a second planetary threat has emerged as well—the widespread carbon emissions warming our planet. These two threats are related because the nuclear powers are deeply implicated in both. USA is responsible for 25 percent of all CO2 emissions to-date, the largest share by far. Russia is currently the fourth-largest emitter of CO2. A substantial part of these emissions is the pollution from military forces, with the US military causing more pollution than any other institution in the world.

On January 22, 2026, it is worth noting that the nuclear ban treaty of 2021 protects our common future in two ways. The TPNW both advances disarmament and offers a way for the world’s biggest militaries to reduce their pollution of humanity’s common home.

 

Cover picture: “An actor sees the bombs over Hiroshima”, by Jonathan Frerichs