Developments and trends, 2024

The year 2024 saw modest progress across the disarmament machinery. In particular, the Conference on Disarmament adopted a decision in June on the work of its 2024 session, a positive signal for the body’s future work that importantly also introduced the concept of continuity between annual sessions. Elsewhere, in the United Nations Disarmament Commission, States began a new three-year cycle by considering two substantive agenda items in their respective working groups: “Recommendations for achieving the objective of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons” in Working Group I; and “Recommendations on common understandings related to emerging technologies in the context of international security” in Working Group II. States welcomed the start of a new cycle and expressed hope in reaching agreement on consensus recommendations.

Overall participation in the General Assembly, First Committee, remained high, with delegates delivering markedly more statements across every issue area than the previous year. In its seventy-ninth session, the Committee adopted five new proposals addressing the effects of nuclear war; the question of nuclear-weapon-free zones; strengthening and institutionalizing the Biological Weapons Convention; weapons of mass destruction in outer space; and artificial intelligence in the military domain. Despite ongoing divisions on matters such as the pace of nuclear disarmament and the ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, the Committee completed its work within the allocated five weeks, adopting a total of 77 draft proposals.

In the Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament, after intensive consultations by the first four Presidents — India, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iraq — the Conference decided to establish five subsidiary bodies for its 2024 session. Each subsidiary body met for one day and held a general exchange of views under the relevant agenda items, touching on specific topics for future meetings. All five bodies agreed on both a report to the Conference and a recommendation that it decide in 2025 to reinstate the subsidiary bodies for that year with their present mandates and coordinators. The issue of participation by States not members of the Conference remained deeply divisive, however; the Conference ultimately opted to consider each request for participation individually, approving 22 of the 39 submitted.^[1]

The United Nations Disarmament Commission convened its 2024 substantive session from 1 to 19 April, under the chairmanship of Muhammad Usman Iqbal Jadoon (Pakistan). Immediately after the organizational session, also held on 1 April, the Commission re-elected by acclamation Akaki Dvali (Georgia) as Chair of Working Group I and Julia Elizabeth Rodríguez Acosta (El Salvador) as Chair of Working Group II. The Commission held a general exchange of views over four plenary meetings on 1 and 2 April before the two working groups commenced their work.

In response to the dynamic global environment, the Secretary-General requested the Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters to conduct a strategic foresight exercise over 2024 and 2025 to identify both present and future risks and opportunities for international peace and security emanating from advances in science and technology. The year 2024 marked the midway point in the Board’s discussions, which emphasized a growing need for the United Nations to systematically analyse how scientific and technological advances intersect with disarmament and arms control. Key concerns raised by the Board included ensuring human control over AI and autonomous weapons; ensuring compliance with international law; understanding the roles of various stakeholders, including States, the private sector, civil society, the scientific community and non-State armed groups; and examining how new technologies interact with existing weapon systems. The Board also focused on anticipating the future implications of these developments for disarmament and arms control priorities.