Global Majority of Countries Now Signed onto UN Nuclear Ban Treaty

As of September 26, Kyrgyzstan has signed, and Ghana has ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), raising the number of states that have acceded, signed, or ratified the treaty to a global majority. Now, 99 out of 197 eligible states have taken legal action under the treaty. This is a key milestone for what is still a young treaty which was adopted by the UN just over 8 years ago and only entered into force 5 years ago. The TPNW outlaws nuclear weapons and all activities associated with them, including production, possession, testing, threats or use. As we know from the evidence from the United States’ nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 80 years ago, the effects of nuclear weapons are uniquely cruel and inhumane because of the indiscriminate, lasting, intergenerational harm they cause. The fact that a global majority of states now respect and heed the treaty sends a strong signal to the nuclear-armed states and their allies which support the use of nuclear weapons in their military strategies that they are the minority and increasingly regarded by the international community as irresponsible actors threatening global security. — ICAN Sept. 26, 2025. This article was originally published by ICAN, and has been shortened for space.