ICAN is the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons which aims to stigmatise, prohibit, and eliminate nuclear weapons through the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). ICAN was awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for its contribution to the TPNW’s adoption in 2017, and now has more than six hundred partner organisations, including many from the UK and Scotland. Each has their own perspective and shares the goal of the elimination of all nuclear weapons
This website is coordinated by the Scottish ICAN Partner Organisations and also includes links to, and information from other UK Partners and International Partners.
The TPNW centres on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons and the unacceptable risk they pose, rather than the perceived strategic benefit for nuclear-armed states. Survivors, non-nuclear-armed states and civil society input was critical in the negotiations that led to the TPNW’s adoption in 2017, entry into force in 2021 and the first meeting of State Parties in 2022. The TPNW complements earlier nuclear weapons treaties by providing the legal instrument and time-bound framework for unambiguous and complete abolition.
The Scottish perspective on nuclear disarmament is unique. The UK’s nuclear weapons system and weapons store are in Scotland, with no credible alternative sites. The Scottish Parliament, the overwhelming majority of MPs representing Scottish constituencies, and the Scottish Government oppose nuclear weapons and want them to be abolished. A constitutional and democratic question arises because an independent Scotland with a government that acceded to the TPNW could have global backing in refusing to host the UK’s nuclear weapons.
