Operationalising BTWC Article VII – A Task for the forthcoming Review Conference
[This new publication by the Implementation Support Unit of the Biological Weapons Convention and UN Office for Disarmament Affairs was presented on 8 April to delegates participating in the Preparatory Committee meeting in Geneva ahead of the Review Conference later in the year. The text below is from the preface.] Article VII is arguably one of the least detailed provisions in the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). It comprises a single sentence: Each State Party to this Convention undertakes to provide or support assistance, in accordance with the United Nations Charter, to any Party to the Convention which so requests, …
OPCW: 26th Session of the Conference of the States Parties (CSP-26)
I am pleased to present here the summary of the annual OPCW Conference of States Parties, prepared by Leanne Quinn of the CWC Coalition. The Trench is a member of the CWC Coalition. Jean Pascal Summary Report by Leanne Quinn Program Assistant, Chemical Weapons Convention Coalition (Cross-posted from the CWC Coalition Conference summaries) During the annual Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), representatives from all the States Parties to the CWC convene in The Hague to oversee the implementation of the CWC, promote the goals and obligations of the treaty, and review treaty compliance, among …
Staring at disarmament’s Rubik Cube: External consensus-building at the 9th BTWC Review Conference
(Science and technology review under the BTWC, Part 3) Hungary presided over the 8th Review Conference of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) in 2016. On the first day, Ambassador György Molnár treated all delegations and other attendants to a Rubik Cube, not just because its inventor Ernö Rubik is a compatriot, but also because the participating states parties had a significant puzzle to solve. How to achieve a sufficiently relevant outcome so the convention could take a few small steps forward. A minimum expectation was an agreement on a next round of thematic intersessional Meetings of Experts (MX) …
COVID-19 pushes BTWC Review Conference into 2022
As noted in the blog posting of 29 November, COVID-19 has seriously interfered with the meeting agendas for the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). A new schedule is emerging for the BTWC while it appears possible that the second part of last year’s CWC Conference of States Parties may take place later than April. BTWC meetings for 2021 The Chairperson of the 2020 Meeting of States Parties (MSP), Ambassador Cleopa Mailu of Kenya, has notified delegations that the Meetings of Experts (MX) will now be held one year after the originally planned dates, …
Implementing BTWC Article VII: Some thoughts for the Meeting of Experts and the Review Conference
[Text of a pre-recorded video ahead of an international webinar on 12 November providing an opportunity for informal discussions on topics to be considered by the Meeting of Experts on Assistance, Response and Preparedness (MX4).] Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Colleagues, I am Dr Jean Pascal Zanders from Belgium and an independent disarmament researcher and consultant at The Trench. My focus is on the elimination and prevention of re-emergence of chemical and biological weapons. I have been regularly following meetings of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) since the Fourth Review Conference in 1996. I am honoured to introduce the …
Preparing the 4th CWC Review Conference: Civil Society – 1
Possible Priorities for the Fourth CWC Review Conference and for the OPCW in the Next Five Years Statement by Dr John Hart (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute – SIPRI)* Presented at: Open-Ended Working Group for the Preparation of the Fourth Review Conference (OEWG-RC), Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), The Hague, Netherlands, 16 April 2018 I would like to thank the OPCW and the Open-Ended Working Group for the Preparation of the Fourth Review Conference (OEWG-RC) for the opportunity to participate in today’s meeting. I would also like to thank all others who have been involved in …
Preparing the 4th CWC Review Conference: Education & Outreach
Role of education and outreach in the prevention of the re-emergence of chemical weapons For consideration by the Open-Ended Working Group preparing the Fourth Review Conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention at its ninth meeting Dr Jean Pascal Zanders Chairperson OPCW Advisory Board on Education and Outreach (ABEO) 30 May 2018 [PDF Version] The Advisory Board on Education and Outreach (ABEO) is a subsidiary organ of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). Its members, together and individually, represent a wide range of education and outreach (E&O) expertise and experience. Besides strategic and practical advice to the OPCW …
An appeal from the Pugwash Council to the 2015 Paris Climate Conference
Avoiding threats to human civilization An appeal from the Pugwash Council to the 2015 Paris Climate Conference 27 November 2015 Since the middle of the 20th century, scientists have consistently raised alarm about the risks posed by climate change due to the increase of carbon in the atmosphere emanating from human activities. Collective scientific endeavour of thousands of researchers organized by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, warns of unequivocal global warming that under the current conditions is likely to lead to further environmental degradation mass migration and increase global insecurity. The impacts …
Falling between the Cracks and by the Sides
Next month, Essentials of Biological Security: A Global Perspective edited by Lijun Shang, Weiwen Zhang and Malcolm Dando will be published. The book offers an introduction to biological security and the chemical and biological weapons (CBW) threat spectrum and explores the history of biological weapons from antiquity to modern day. Its core comprises expert analyses of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention and other relevant international agreements and organisations and practical discussions of dual-use technologies and how to minimise their risk. (For a preview of the book contents, click here.) I contributed the chapter Falling between the Cracks and by …
The BTWC Confronting False Allegations And Disinformation
Introduction Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Following Russia’s occupation of territory in the east, north and south of Ukraine, it took possession of several biological research facilities. Partly based on documents it claimed to have recovered from these facilities, Russia alleged that the United States had been sponsoring biological activities in Ukraine violating the 1972 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction (Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, BWC), a disarmament treaty that outlaws the development, acquisition and possession of biological weapons. During the first few …