The Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons was the result of a decisive development within the nuclear disarmament regime. Since the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the international community has refocused its attention to the humanitarian dimension of and the risks associated with nuclear weapons. This evolution was reflected trough cross-regional humanitarian statements in United Nations fora and culminated in the organisation of three Conferences on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons in Oslo (March 2013), Nayarit (February 2014) and Vienna (December 2014).
The Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons was attended by representatives of 158 States, a broad spectrum of international organisations from the United Nations system, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, as well as science and civil society. The Conference was opened by Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz; the United Nations Secretary General, the President of the ICRC and Pope Francis addressed the Conference though important statements and messages. Victims of nuclear explosions gave testimonies of their harrowing experiences. In four sessions, experts from various fields addressed the short and long-term consequences of nuclear weapons, the impact of nuclear testing, the risk drivers for deliberate or inadvertent nuclear weapons use, scenarios of nuclear weapons use and the associated challenges as well as an overview of the norms under existing international law pertaining to the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons explosions.
The scientific findings and the discussions which emerged at the Vienna Conference confirmed that the humanitarian consequences and risks associated with nuclear weapons are far more serious than previously assumed, and that they should therefore be placed at the center of global efforts on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.
Austria tried to give a broad view of the opinions on the next steps in a summary produced under the sole responsibility of the Chair. This Summary contains eight key substantive conclusions that have emerged in the humanitarian initiative of the past three years and the international conferences in Oslo, Nayarit and Vienna. In addition, Austria issued a national pledge which has been internationalized as a "humanitarian pledge" and supported by more than 127 States.
