A/RES/56/24 S F OLLOW- UP TO THE ADVISORY OPINION OF THE I NTERNATIONAL COURT OF J USTICE ON THE L EGALITY OF THE T HREAT OR U SE OF N UCLEAR W EAPONS The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 49/75 K of 15 December 1994, 51/45 M of 10 December 1996, 52/38 O of 9 December 1997, 53/77 W of 4 December 1998, 54/54 Q of 1 December 1999 and 55/33 X of 20 November 2000, Convinced that the continuing existence of nuclear weapons poses a threat to all humanity and that their use would have catastrophic consequences for all life on Earth, and recognizing that the only defence against a nuclear catastrophe is the total elimination of nuclear weapons and the certainty that they will never be produced again, Reaffirming the commitment of the international community to the goal of the total elimination of nuclear weapons and the creation of a nuclear-weapon-free world, Mindful of the solemn obligations of States parties, undertaken in article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, 2 particularly to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nucleararms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, Recalling the principles and objectives for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament adopted at the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,44 Welcoming the unequivocal undertaking by the nuclear-weapon States to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals leading to nuclear disarmament, adopted at the 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, 61 Recalling the adoption of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty in its resolution 50/245 of 10 September 1996, and expressing its satisfaction at the increasing number of States that have signed and ratified the Treaty, Recognizing with satisfaction that the Antarctic Treaty21 and the treaties of Tlatelolco,17 Rarotonga,18 Bangkok 19 and Pelindaba 20 are gradually freeing the entire southern hemisphere and adjacent areas covered by those treaties from nuclear weapons, Noting the efforts by the States possessing the largest inventories of nuclear weapons to reduce their stockpiles of such weapons through bilateral agreements or arrangements and unilateral decisions, and calling for the intensification of such efforts to accelerate the significant reduction of nuclear-weapon arsenals, Stressing the importance of strengthening all existing nuclear-related disarmament, arms control and reduction measures, Recognizing the need for a multilaterally negotiated and legally binding instrument to assure non-nuclear-weapon States against the threat or use of nuclear weapons, Reaffirming the central role of the Conference on Disarmament as the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum, and regretting the lack of progress in 31