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STORY: CTBTO / SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE
TRT: 2:34
SOURCE: CTBTO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NATS
DATELINE 28 JUNE 2019, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
1. Exterior shot, Hofburg Palace, banner of CTBTO conference
2. Tilt down, conference festival hall
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Lassina Zerbo, Excecutive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO):
“It's a first step to stop doing a nuclear weapon and stop improving them. The second is to get rid of them, But, that first step is where the CTBT comes in: making sure that no one is doing nuclear test explosions in the search to develop nuclear weapon.”
4. Various shots, Zerbo delivering opening remarks
5. Wide shot, former Austrian President Heinz Fischer at the podium
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Heinz Fischer, former President of Austria:
“The CTBT is a very important agreement and it helps to fight against the use of nuclear weapons.”
7. Various shots, participants of the plenary listening
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Heinz Fischer, former President of Austria:
“And the nuclear danger, that cannot be solved by one two or five countries, it needs multilateral solutions and multilateral engagement. And therefore, we are fighting for that.”
9. Various shots, conference participants talking and exchanging ideas
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Sir Mark Welland, Chief Scientific Advisor to Ministry of Defense of the UK:
“If you want science and technology to have its greatest impact, you don't wait for the science and technology to finish and hand it over. You actually start talking to politicians to social scientists to the humanities to understand exactly how this science might have an impact and how it can have the most effective impact.”
11. Various shots, conference participants talking and exchanging ideas
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Sabah Al Momin, research scientist in genetic engineering, Kuwait:
“The inclusion of women in science and technology, it would lead to a much higher and faster advancement in science and technology.
13. Various shots, Al Momin speaking
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Sabah Al Momin, research scientist in genetic engineering, Kuwait:
“Having a one side cannot achieve the big picture. So the inclusion of women...yes, very much so. And women proved themselves to be great scientists.”
15. Various shots, women scientists talking to each other
With international tensions high over nuclear non-proliferation, a large gathering of diplomats, scientists and academics met in Vienna to discuss advancements related to one of the pillars of nuclear non-proliferation: the 1996 U.N.-brokered Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).
“It's a first step to stop doing a nuclear weapon and stop improving them,” said Lassina Zerbo, the Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), which has a verification regime to make sure no nuclear test goes undetected. “The second is to get rid of them. But that first step is where the CTBT comes in: making sure that no one is doing nuclear test explosions in the search to develop nuclear weapons.”
Over 1000 people from more than 100 countries met this week (24-28 June 2019) at the CTBTO “Science and Technology Conference 2019” at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna.
Amid rising concern over strains in international arms control, many of the panellists and participants addressed the erosion of the long-standing political norms that form the backbone of treaties like the CTBT.
“The CTBT is a very important agreement and it helps to fight against the use of nuclear weapons,” said former Austrian President Heinz Fischer, speaking on behalf of former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “And the nuclear danger, that cannot be solved by one two or five countries, it needs multilateral solutions and multilateral engagement. And therefore, we are fighting for that.”
Since it was opened for signature in 1996, 184 countries have signed the CTBT and 168 have ratified it, but eight more key ratifications are needed to bring it into force.
The CTBTO conference brought together policy makers and scientists to discuss the technological challenges to verifying the CTBT. But they also came together to look towards the future.
“If you want science and technology to have its greatest impact, you don't wait for the science and technology to finish and hand it over,” said Sir Mark Welland, the Chief Scientific Advisor to Britain's Ministry of Defense. “You actually start talking to politicians to social scientists to the humanities to understand exactly how this science might have an impact and how it can have the most effective impact.”
The conference also took a multi-cultural, inter-generational approach to tackling nuclear non-proliferation issues. Notably, women scientists from around the world were participating or leading panel discussions.
“The inclusion of women in science and technology, it would lead to a much higher and faster advancement in science and technology,” said Sabah Al Momin, a research scientist in genetic engineering from Kuwait. “Having a one side cannot achieve the big picture. So, the inclusion of women...yes, very much so. And women proved themselves to be great scientists.”
Before the 1996 Treaty, there were over 2000 detonations of nuclear weapons in the air, at sea, on land and underground. Since then only 10, mostly by North Korea.
