Photo by Osama Madlom on Unsplash
The financial community is increasingly rejecting nuclear weapons, a new report from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons claims.
ICAN is a coalition of non-governmental organizations in one hundred countries promoting adherence to and implementation of the United Nations nuclear weapon ban treaty.
It says that after more than a year of devastating war in Ukraine, the risk that nuclear weapons could be used “lurks in the background.”
A statement on Thursday said, “Any use of nuclear weapons would be catastrophic.
“Yet the condemnation of Russia’s nuclear threats by many states – which are either nuclear -armed or endorse nuclear weapons in their security doctrines – sound hollow, as they fail to recognise their own role in creating the current level of nuclear risk.”
It goes on: “Fortunately, many financial sector actors are taking a more responsible approach, by embracing the positive role they can play in further stigmatising and delegitimising nuclear weapons.
“The number of financial institutions listed in the Don’t Bank on the Bomb reports has grown steadily over the last decade, with the largest spike in policies being seen since the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons’ (TPNW) entry into force in 2021.”
He adds, “Many institutions profiled refer in their policies to the TPNW. They are based in Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, and are leading the way for their governments who have yet to join the Treaty.”
