In July 2023, the world reached a landmark achievement in the history of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs): the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) confirmed the verified and irreversible destruction of all known chemical weapons stockpiles. 26 years after the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) entered into force, it had achieved one of its major goals, becoming the first multilateral disarmament treaty to effectively eliminate an entire class of weapons.
This was not the first time that the CWC led the way in disarmament. With 193 member states, the CWC is the most universal of multilateral disarmament treaties. In 2013, the OPCW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its “extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons.”
The CWC was opened for signature in January 1993 and officially entered into force on 29 April 1997, after the 65th state party adhered to the convention. The treaty is thorough in its attempt to rid the world of chemical weapons: it outlaws the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, and retention of chemical weapons. The goal of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to create a word “free from the threat of chemical weapons” is one step closer now that all declared stockpiles have been destroyed. This latest achievement offered a glimmer of hope in the arms control world amidst rising tensions among nuclear armed powers.
