The Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) held its first session from 31 July to 11 August 2023 at the Vienna International Centre in Vienna, Austria. This session was the first of three that are to be held in preparation for the 2026 NPT Review Conference. Because the last two successive NPT Review Conferences held in 2015 and 2022 failed to adopt final documents due to disagreements among the states parties, this first session of the Preparatory Committee was expected to be a significant milestone that would change the current discourse. Nonetheless, the session was closed without reaching an agreement to implement the chair’s summary as an official document of the United Nations. Despite the undesirable outcome, valuable stories and expertises were widely shared during the first session of the NPT Preparatory Committee. As part of civil society, SGI participated in the first session and co-organized three side events on different themes together with like-minded institutions and organizations.

On 1 August 2023, SGI co-organized the side event “The Catastrophic Consequences of Nuclear Tests in Kazakhstan: A First-Person History” with the Center for International Security and Policy (CISP) and the Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan in Vienna. Alimzhan Akhmetov, Director of the CISP, gave the opening remarks, followed by welcome words from Alibek Bakayev, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the United Nations in Vienna, and Hirotsugu Terasaki, SGI Director General for Peace and Global Issues.

After screening a trailer of the documentary film produced by CISP with the support of SGI, participants heard a personal testimonial from Dmitriy Vesselov, a third-generation victim of nuclear tests in Semey City, formerly known as Semipalatinsk, in Kazakhstan. While Kazakhstan was one of the republics of the Soviet Union (USSR), more than 450 nuclear tests were conducted at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, affecting 1.5 million people, including Vesselov and his family. Alicia Sanders-Zakre, Policy and Research Coordinator at the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), also provided a presentation regarding the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons from the perspectives of victim assistance, environmental remediation and international cooperation—three of which are articulated in Articles 6 and 7 of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Afterwards, the panelists and participants exchanged their views during a Q&A session moderated by Sanya Rajpal of SGI.

On 3 August 2023, SGI held a second side event, titled “No First Use as a Path to Nuclear Disarmament,” with the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF) and the Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (PNND). Moderated by Chie Sunada, SGI Director of Peace and Human Rights, three panelists discussed nuclear risk reduction through the policies of No First Use (NFU) and examined the way to advance the nuclear disarmament by furthering NFU initiatives. During the panel discussion, Christine Muttonen, Co-President of PNND, insisted that all the nuclear weapon states and their allied states should pledge No First Use of nuclear weapons as a practical and effective measure for the disarmament and abolition of nuclear weapons. She emphasized the importance of promoting disarmament education, particularly for the younger generation, to shape the public discourse and to put an end to nuclear armament.

Nikolai Sokov, Senior Fellow at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP), pointed out that although the number of nuclear weapons possessed by nuclear-weapon states is decreasing, no use of nuclear weapons has never been ensured; therefore, the policies of No First Use are crucial to articulating each country’s nuclear posture and to further the steps for nuclear abolition. He argued that if nuclear weapon states and their allied states succeed in stabilizing international affairs and adopting measures for arms control and capacity building, more states will be highly likely to pledge No First Use of nuclear weapons.

Along with the two panelists, Ivana Nikolić Hughes, President of NAPF, affirmed that No First Use is one of the necessary instruments to reduce the risk of nuclear weapon use, referring to the fact that even a single nuclear attack could cause both direct and indirect consequences, such as nuclear winter and extreme hunger. She insisted that the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) can lead up to the zero risk of nuclear weapon use, as any risk is acceptable under the current condition. She highlighted civil society’s important role in mobilizing international movements to abolish nuclear weapons and also urged that we cannot leave this crisis to the next generations.

Lastly, on 7 August 2023, SGI organized a third side event, “In Discussion with Global Youth: Inheriting the Experiences of Hibakusha,” with other youth-focused organizations, virtually connecting many young people from around the world. Participants listened to the testimony of the A-bomb survivor Keiko Ogura, who shared her experience as Hibakusha with the G7 leaders at the G7 Hiroshima Summit held in May 2023. During the following panel discussion moderated by Molly McGinty, Program Director of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), five youth representatives from different regions and backgrounds shared their respective initiatives for the disarmament and abolition of nuclear weapons. As one of the representatives, Mitsunobu Takahashi of SGI introduced the peace activities that he has been involved in as part of the Soka Gakkai Peace Committee in Nagasaki. The representatives also discussed how to raise awareness of the nuclear weapons issue, especially among the younger generation. During the NGO presentation, other youth representatives delivered the Youth Statement endorsed by approximately 50 groups and organizations.