Canada's statement to the First Committee of the 79th session of the United Nations, Thematic Debate: Other Weapons of Mass Destruction

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New York, USA, October 22, 2024

Madam Chair,

As in other clusters, the global norms against chemical and biological weapons are being challenged, including through Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. 

While the international frameworks against chemical and biological weapons, namely the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), have seen notable successes and important advancements in recent years; they have also faced significant challenges, including concerted efforts, from a small number of states, to undermine their effectiveness.

Under the BTWC, the Working Group has been able to address issues that had not been meaningfully advanced in decades. The idea of establishing a cost-effective compliance and verification regime is being revisited for the first time since 2001. The building blocks of mechanisms on international cooperation and assistance and on science and technology review are coming together in a constructive manner.

Unfortunately, the BTWC also continues to be used as a platform to air political grievances, promote targeted disinformation, and sabotage the international disarmament agenda as a whole. The 2023 Meeting of States Parties could not involve any substantive work due to repeated obstructionism, through abuse of the rules of procedure and misrepresentation of precedent from Russia. We also cannot forget Russia’s spurious invocation of Article V in 2022, wasting States Parties’ time and resources on a complete fabrication that all but their staunchest supporters refused to entertain.

The situation is similar in the CWC, with both successes and persistent challenges. The OPCW, on July 7, 2023, verified that all chemical weapons stockpiles declared by the States Parties had been irreversibly destroyed. Nevertheless, the Syrian Arab Republic has been shielded from the consequences of using chemical weapons against its own people, and more than ten years after accession to the CWC, nineteen outstanding issues remain regarding its initial declaration. Russia, who purports not to have chemical weapons, used Novichok nerve agents in the attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal in the United Kingdom and refuses to answer questions about the poisoning of the late Alexei Navalny. There are credible reports that Russian forces have used riot control agents, and potentially more deadly toxic chemicals, as weapons in its war of aggression against Ukraine. Our questions to Russia on these matters are deflected or met with page after page of falsehoods.

Madam Chair,

Disinformation jeopardizes global peace and security, undermining non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament (NACD) conventions and threatening the objectives and purpose of the CWC and the BTWC. To combat disinformation in the CBRN sphere, Canada is spearheading a new WMD Counter Disinformation initiative. This ambitious effort is being implemented on behalf of the 31 members of the G7-led Global Partnership and is being delivered in close collaboration with the G7’s Rapid Response Mechanism. This comprehensive, coordinated, and multi-institutional initiative aims to aid understanding of the direct and indirect harms of CBRN disinformation attacks. It also aims to develop tools and solutions to counter disinformation narratives pre-emptively.

Madam Chair,

Next year will mark the centennial of the signing of the Geneva Protocol, as well as the 50^th anniversary of the entry into force of the BTWC. We have a unique opportunity to showcase the importance of these two landmark treaties and highlight the hard work of all who have contributed to their success.

When it comes to chemical and biological disarmament this year, one could not be faulted for feeling some optimism. However, we cannot allow this to lead to overconfidence. As has been said, complacency is the enemy of progress. If we ignore threats to the global norm against chemical and biological weapons, we risk undoing all we have worked to achieve.

Thank you.