June 21, 2022
William Potter
Over 60 senior diplomats, government and international organization officials, and experts met in Annecy, France on June 10-11, 2022, for the traditional CNS NPT Diplomatic Workshop. The topic for this year’s meeting was “The 10th NPT Review Conference: Prospects and Pitfalls.” The workshop provided a timely opportunity for Review Conference President-designate Gustavo Zlauvinen to consult with key officials in advance of the Rev Con, which is scheduled for four weeks in August at the United Nations in New York. Among the featured speakers at the Annecy workshop were Robert Floyd, Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization, and Izumi Nakamitsu, UN Under-Secretary General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.
Read Izumi Nakamitsu’s remarks
Izumi Nakamitsu, UN Under-Secretary General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs
Major items for discussion at the two-day meeting included the status of commitments adopted by past review conferences; the impact of recent developments on the international nonproliferation regime; and options for moving forward on nuclear disarmament. Workshop participants largely agreed on the need to reaffirm past commitments and discussed different approaches to reviewing their implementations as well as developing and adopting further steps at the upcoming Review Conference. Nuclear risk reduction featured prominently in the discussions on disarmament and potential outcomes of the Conference. Participants also focused on the major challenges and opportunities related to nuclear proliferation, regional security, and the peaceful use of nuclear technology. Not surprisingly, a major backdrop for discussion of all of these issues was the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Review Conference President-designate Gustavo Zlauvinen, CNS Director William Potter, and Izumi Nakamitsu
The final session of the workshop featured a dialogue with Ambassador Zlauvinen about his vision for the upcoming Review Conference.
2022 Annecy NPT Workshop Agenda_060822
CTBTO Executive Secretary Robert Floyd delivers luncheon address.
The meeting closed with what has become an Annecy tradition—a song composed for the occasion by sometime-lyricist Tom Countryman and performed by several workshop participants. This year it was an adaptation of the ABBA hit “Fernando” (“Gustavo”).
The workshop was the principal opportunity for heads of delegations and the Rev Con president-designate to meet collectively to take stock of the major challenges awaiting them in New York in August. One can only hope that the deliberations at the actual review conference will be as constructive as were those in Annecy.
