UN Study on the Effects of Nuclear War

That the Parliament welcomes the decision of the UN General Assembly’s First Committee to establish a group of 21 scientific experts to study the effects of nuclear war; notes that the group’s work will involve "examining the physical effects and societal consequences of a nuclear war on a local, regional and planetary scale, including, inter alia, the climatic, environmental and radiological effects, and their impacts on public health, global socioeconomic systems, agriculture and ecosystems, in the days, weeks and decades following a nuclear war", and producing a report on its findings; fears that, in the context of wars in Europe and the Middle East involving nuclear-armed states, the risk of nuclear weapons use is at least as high as in previous situations of global tension; recognises, as the resolution states, "the likelihood of global events having complex, cascading impacts on global systems and societies", as well as "the fragility of those systems and our planetary boundaries"; notes with disappointment that the UK voted against this decision, together with only two other states, France and the Russian Federation; commends the work of disarmament groups, including those in the north east of Scotland, in striving towards a world free of nuclear weapons, and urges the UK Government to lead the world in nuclear disarmament by committing to decommission its own nuclear arsenal.