Joint Message from the Governors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Prefectures (August 2022)

On the occasion of the landmark Tenth Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT) Review Conference of 2022 (NPT RevCon 2022), on its opening day, on-site here at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, jointly organized the symposium on “Nuclear Disarmament and Our Sustainable Future, the Governors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Prefectures jointly send the following message:

We, the Governors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Prefectures,

On the occasion of the landmark Tenth Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT) Review Conference of 2022 (NPT RevCon 2022), on its opening day, on-site here at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, jointly organized the symposium on “Nuclear Disarmament and Our Sustainable Future,” as the first joint collaborative side event of a major international conference,

Wishing from the bottom of our hearts that no one in the world will ever experience the untold tragic consequences of the use of nuclear weapons that people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had to suffer,

With the conviction that truly sustainable future of humanity and the planet will not be achieved without the total elimination of nuclear weapons,

Appeal to all the state parties to the treaty to fully commit themselves to their sincere and creative negotiation, by directly conveying the common wish and expectation of the people of two prefectures of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, including hibakushas, as well as all those people of the world who aspire for peace and prosperity, that the success of the current RevCon is critical to the advancement of nuclear disarmament,

Expect the further efforts of respective state parties to move forward, with the recognition that peace through the complete elimination of nuclear weapons is the common final goal of both the NPT and the Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, as well as other related nuclear disarmament treaties and agreements, by them mutually reinforcing each other,

Propose to clearly inscribe the realization of the total elimination of nuclear weapons at the earliest possible timing no later than 2045, the centenary of the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in the next set of global common goals that should be agreed at the United Nations for sustainable peace and prosperity for all in the post-SDGs world.

We, the two Governors, believe that the ideal of complete elimination of nuclear weapons is not for the sake of ideal but for the reality that must be achieved no later than the year 2045 however hard it may be. It is because, exiting to a ‘Post-Nuclear Weapon World’ has to be, like other goals as Net Zero and Planetary Health, one of those indispensable areas of transformation that we must realize to save succeeding generations from the catastrophe of unsustainable future of humanity and the earth. 

We are here to strongly appeal to the world, hoping today’s rich and inspiring intellectual discussion of backcasting from a future world free of nuclear weapons by the esteemed panelists and participants in our jointly organized symposium at landmark NPT RevCon 2022 can contribute to spur a momentum, to expand the network of intellectual prowess, responsible social conscience and political will around the world so as to further advance the concrete actions in solidarity to realize a new normal of the world no longer dependent on nuclear weapons.

1 August 2022

YUZAKI Hidehiko
Governor of Hiroshima Prefecture

OISHI Kengo
Governor of Nagasaki Prefecture

on the occasion of the Tenth Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) Review Conference

at the United Nations Headquarters in New York