Mister Chair:

I congratulate you on your appointment as Chair of this Committee and assure you of my delegation’s full support.

We associate ourselves with the statements and substantive recommendations of the NAM and the NPDI with respect to this Pillar. We also welcome Timor Leste’s recent accession as 174th State Party to the CTBT and urge others to likewise accede.

Mister Chair:

1. The implementation of all nuclear disarmament obligations and commitments, particularly Article VI as affirmed by the ICJ in its Advisory Opinion and elaborated in Action 5 of the 64-Point Action Plan, should not be contingent upon any subjective assessment of the international security environment. Such subjectivity deviates from our shared mandate to uphold a predictable and stable rules-based international order that ought to work for all nations and all peoples right now. ^[1]
2. There must be no equivocation on the commitment of Nuclear Weapon States to the 13 Practical Steps and the 64-Point Action Plan that were agreed upon in the 2000 and 2010 NPT Review Conferences. Honoring and affirming these commitments reinforce the certainties that underpin the credibility of the NPT and its framework. ^[2]
3. Nuclear weapons must never be used for resolving international disputes nor in the security or military doctrine of any nation. We remain concerned about continued nuclear modernization, development, and testing programs of nuclear-armed states and the lack of progress in nuclear disarmament.^[3]
4. We are concerned about Russia’s decision to raise the readiness status of its nuclear arsenal, the U.K.’s decision to increase its nuclear stockpile limit, the deficit of trust and confidence in our region owing to the lack of transparency and dialogue including on China’s nuclear forces, and the delay in the entry into force of the CTBT.^[4]
5. We support efforts towards nuclear risk reduction as an intervening measure while we work towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons. Risk reduction recognizes that risks emanate from the very existence of nuclear weapons itself.  Risk reduction does not legitimize the continued existence of nuclear weapons nor serve as a substitute for tangible progress towards nuclear disarmament.

Mister Chair:

As the Philippines has stressed at the highest level at the United Nations, no aspiration or ambition can ever justify the use of nuclear weapons.^[5] They are a source of insecurity and an existential threat to all mankind.

Nuclear Weapon States therefore have a legal, political, moral, and ethical obligation to dismantle their nuclear weapons. They must act now.

At this Review Conference, Nuclear Weapon States must affirm without ambiguity their intention to meet this critical obligation and to bring us closer to our collective vision of a world without nuclear weapons. We urge Nuclear Weapon States to undertake the following commitments:

1. Implement without further delay Action 5 of the 64-Point Action Plan, and undertake meaningful, productive and timely measures to further diminish the role of nuclear weapons in their military and security concepts, doctrines, and policies.
2. Discuss, agree, and implement without delay concrete measures of progress and targets to ensure further reduction in the global stockpile of all types of nuclear weapons with the view to eliminating them completely.^[6] This must be done in a sincere and constructive spirit through every channel possible, including through bilateral or trilateral consultation mechanisms established and sustained in good faith.^[7]
3. Acknowledge their special responsibility to apply the highest level of transparency on actions in fullfilment of their NPT commitments  with   periodic, up-to-date, accurate, complete and comparable national reports. If national reports are to serve as basis for dialogue and building trust among and between Nuclear Weapon State s and Non Nuclear Weapon States, they must include information on number, type and status of nuclear warheads, delivery systems, fissile materials produced for military purposes, risk reduction measures and measures taken to reduce the role and significance of nuclear weapons in security doctrines.  The Conference must continue to emphasize the highest demands of accountability and transparency that the Treaty places on Nuclear Weapons States, to help us establish the common ground for pursuing effective action towards the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons.^[8]

Thank you, Mister Chair.