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Picture a fisherman threatened with old, rusting mustard agent weapons in his fishnets. Picture a whole neighbourhood evacuated because of chemical weapons unearthed in one family’s backyard. Picture gallons of deadly nerve agent leaking out of storage containers and floating downwind toward communities. And, worst of all, picture a terrorist group releasing nerve agent in a public place — say, the subway — in the middle of rush hour.
These four scenarios are not hypothetical. They have all taken place over the past few years in the US, Japan, and on the high seas. Chemical weapons, produced by the hundreds of thousands of tons by Russia, the US, Japan, much of Western Europe, and now in Asia, continue to threaten us all in many and varied ways. Large stockpiles and buried and dumped munition caches still exist. It’s time to understand this growing threat better and to mutually abolish chemical weapons before it’s too late.
The United States and Russia today have over 65,000 tons of chemical weapons stockpiled at sixteen major sites. US stockpiles, some 25,000 tons now, are located in eight states — Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Oregon, and Utah — and on Johnston Atoll in the Pacific. Russian stockpiles, larger with 40,000 tons, are concentrated at seven sites in western Russia and one east of the Urals. India has also publicly acknowledged an existing stockpile and several additional countries no doubt also possess smaller stocks of chemical weapons.
Both the US and Russia, along with the great majority of the world, signed an international agreement over the last decade banning the development, production, and stockpiling of chemical weapons. The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) took twelve years of tough negotiating, partly under my watch as Soviet President, and is a historic breakthrough in non-discriminatory, verifiable, global disarmament of weapons of mass destruction. It has set an excellent precedent for efforts at nuclear weapons abolition.
And yet, although ratified by the US Senate and Russian Duma three years ago this year, the CWC has failed as of yet to eliminate much of the chemical weapons threat. Serious progress is needed immediately in chemical weapons destruction in order to preclude more accidents or terrorist incidents that will inevitably happen if we wait much longer.
First, we all must recognise that the continued existence of enormous chemical weapons stockpiles is a threat to us all. Nerve, mustard, lewisite, and other deadly agents kill indiscriminately, especially when detonated by terrorist groups in public places or when leaking from stockpile sites and drifting downwind. These old arsenals are also serious environmental and public health hazards to local communities, but our main concern must be global security. The proliferation threat, especially of relatively insecure Russian weapons, is real.
Second, the international community must begin to seriously help Russia in destroying its chemical weapons arsenal. Russia is fully committed to abolition of its stockpile, but its difficult post-Cold War socio-economic situation has precluded it from destroying a single weapon to date. The American Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program, established eight years ago by Senators Sam Nunn and Richard Lugar, has committed some $150 million in recent years to planning a destruction facility in the Kurgan region, just north of Kazakhstan on the steppes of Siberia. And European allies — Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, and others — have committed some $50 million. But the Russian program is estimated at $8-10 billion to destroy all seven CW sites. Much more coordinated support is needed now in order to share this burden more fairly.
Especially important is for the US and the Nunn-Lugar program to retain its leadership. Recent efforts in the US Congress to halt this program are misguided and dangerous.
Third, continued technology development for safe and environmentally sound weapons destruction is needed in order to have a toolbox applicable to all weapons, agents, and situations. The US, having now successfully destroyed 6,000 tons of chemical weapons by incineration, has learned that there is no silver bullet solution for CW destruction. The last five years of alternative technology development will help us all make progress toward safe and final CW destruction.
Fourth, those most threatened by stockpile destruction are understandably the local communities in Russia and the US. Democratic decision-making, with inclusion of all stakeholders through national and regional dialogues, advisory commissions, dedicated outreach programs, and transparent processes will be key to success.
Finally, we must begin to address old and abandoned chemical weapons which contaminate countries and oceans throughout the world. The US, for example, has identified over 200 suspected dump sites in two-thirds of the states which may contain chemical weapons. Green Cross Russia has recently studied an open-burn site for lewisite in the Penza region of Russia. And all major powers have sunk bargeloads of chemical weapons to the bottom of the seas. While these weapons are less threatening from a security point of view, they endanger the environment and health of the global community.
I am committed to ridding the world of these deadly weapons and obsolete arsenals of mass destruction. I appeal to the public and to world leaders to join me in this effort while we still have time.
Gorbachev Calls on World Leaders to Help Abolish Chemical Weapons
On June 25, President Gorbachev sent letters to dozens of heads of state and other political leaders in the United States, Europe and Russia making an urgent call for nations to commit mutual financial support to Russia's flagging chemical weapons destruction programme. The response so far to this rare appeal has been heartening, with positive replies from: President of the Confederation of Switzerland, Adolf Ogi; UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair; French Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin; Prime Minister of The Netherlands, Wim Kok; President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Luciano Violante; Chairman of the Austrian National Assembly, Heinz Fischer; and President of the Belgian Senate, Armand De Decker. All these leaders expressed the commitment of their governments to chemical weapons destruction.
The good news is that there is an internationally binding convention to destroy chemical weapons. The bad news is that it is not yet in effect. Tons of chemical weapons are still slowly rotting away, posing a danger for humanity and the environment. The contracts have finally been signed - effective action must now ensue. Green Cross' "Destroy Chemical Weapons Now" Campaign 2000, to be launched in Bern, Switzerland, on September 21, aims at stimulating just such action.
The mission of Green Cross is the remediation and alleviation of the environmental and social consequences of the misuse and degeneration of the environment. The Green Cross Legacy of Wars Programme addresses the safe and environmentally sound destruction of weapons of the Cold War and the environmental impacts of war. The chemical weapons campaign seeks to contribute towards the goal of ridding the world of weapons of mass destruction by creating the political and public will needed to support the practical implementation of the CWC - with the objective to destroy all land-based CWs by 2015.
In order to remove the threat posed by chemical weapons, nations with existing stockpiles need to generate the necessary, and considerable, funds for responsible destruction, and all nations must be committed to the prohibition of any future production - as was agreed under the Convention.
The strategy of the Green Cross campaign will be to create and enhance awareness on all levels; among the public through a "bottom-up" information and advertising campaign, and within political circles using "top-down" networking and appeals to influential figures. It is necessary to strengthen the political resolve to enforce the Chemical Weapons Convention, and more specifically to generate financial backing needed - particularly for Russia.
Under the management of Green Cross Switzerland, Campaign 2000 has already begun in Switzerland with initial activities to disseminate information and introduce the issue to the public, and to Parliamentarians. The Swiss campaign will form the basis for the internationalisation of the campaign in like-minded - particularly European - countries in the coming years. With a view to spreading the campaign to other nations as soon as possible, Green Cross Switzerland will collaborate closely with Green Cross National Organisations in Russia, the United States and across Europe, as well as with Green Cross International in Geneva.
One method of awareness raising that will be used in the campaign is appealing to parliamentarians - both in Switzerland and internationally - as a means of simultaneously informing the public and politicians of the environmental, human and security risks of chemical weapons. Events such as the State of the World Forum in New York in September 2000 also provide important opportunities to get chemical weapons destruction at the forefront of the international agenda.
To achieve a lasting public consciousness, the dangers posed by chemical weapons must be clearly understood by people in the street. Campaign 2000 will undertake to reach people efficiently and effectively using visual images that can be repeated as a carrying agent and "eye-catcher" for the message of the campaign. The visuals used by the campaign will be related to the mission of Green Cross, i.e. demonstrate the risk to human subjects of having chemical weapons in our environment, and will be developed in Switzerland and later extended throughout Europe.
The internet will also be a key information tool, and a chemical weapons campaign web site will be linked to the GCI site at www.gci.ch as of October 2000.
Contact:
GC Switzerland: Stephan Robinson, stephan.robinson@greencross.ch
GC Russia: Sergej Baranovsky, gcrus@glas.apc.org
GG USA: Paul Walker, ipis@igc.apc.org
The headquarters of Green Cross Russia may be in Moscow, but the organisation has now expanded to cover the whole country with the help of 21 local affiliates. Green Cross Russia is now the third most important environmental organisation in Russia, with a prominent position in the Russian Ecological Congress. GCR members regularly participate at meetings of the Environmental Committee of the Duma in order to influence decisions on national environmental laws, such as the ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and many others.
No Green deputies were elected during the last Duma election in December 1999. The weakness of the political green movement means that NGOs have a major role to play in order to ensure that the voice of civil society is heard.
Along with GC Switzerland and GG USA, GCR is one of the three members of the Legacy of Wars triangle which is at the core of the GC programme to remediate the environmental hazards still posed by the weapons stockpiles and industrial contamination of the Cold War era, and collaborate constantly in the development and implementation of projects. In Russia, the Legacy Programme facilitates military base clean-up and conversion, promotes environmentally sound destruction of weapons, sustainable military practices, and alleviates the consequences of the arms race and hostilities. Activities are also aimed at improving public health and social infrastructure and the building of a civil society. The funding for Legacy of Cold War projects in Russia comes mainly from GC Switzerland and GG USA.
The Legacy Programme is one of the main driving forces in the Russian chemical demilitarisation process. The Green Cross Russian Chemtrust programme is pursuing a series of projects facilitating the destruction of CWs in Russia through:
Green Cross Russia has extended the activities of its therapy and education camps for children from areas with CW stockpiles. Instead of one single large camp, as of 1999 three smaller, decentralised camps have been organised to help hundreds of children and their families with medical care and environmental health information.
Green Cross is also active regarding the threat of conventional and nuclear weapons in Russia. In summer 1999, a public involvement programme was initiated in Votkinsk, Udmurt Republic, to build consensus around the proposed construction of the primary missile destruction centre in Russia, with over 900 missiles planned for elimination over the next few years under START agreements. The programme in 1999 included hosting a citizen delegation from Votkinsk for a week of outreach and public involvement training in the US. In October 1999, a major public hearing was organised in Votkinsk. All stakeholder groups were represented among the 700 citizens in the audience.
Green Cross Russia recently published a 375-page volume, Radioactive Legacies of the Cold War, which exposes new data on radiation accidents and impacts of past Russian military nuclear activities. An English translation and publication is currently being investigated.
Environmental Education
Public awareness building is one of the main objectives of GCR, and activities aim at people of all age groups. GCR has organised dozens of conferences, hearings and meetings all around the country, especially in cities close to nuclear and chemical weapons stockpiles. The organisation remains very active in the GCI Youth Drawing Contest and the initiative is now implemented throughout the country. The 1999 winner came from Moscow, the 1998 winners from Tula and Vladivostok.
Other Activities
GCR affiliates are involved in water issues, especially where water resources are threatened by industrial activities. The economic crisis and the inability of companies to invest in clean technologies increases the risk of water resources degradation in terms of both quality and quantity. GCR hopes to become more active in this programme, possibly with the long-planned development of an integrated management project for the Volga River.
Green Cross Russia will be one of the main partners in the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention Campaign 2000 being launched in Switzerland.
On April 7-8 public hearings on chemical weapons issues were held in Kurgan and Shchuch'ye, and the organisation participated in the Parliamentarian Hearings in the Duma on CWC in Moscow, and at the conference of the State Parties of the OPCW in The Hague.
The Youth Drawing Contest was one of the most important activities. The regional winners were granted with presents on April 22 and the final ceremony took place on the 5th of June, and the international awards will be in Italy on September 25.
The sixth annual International Conference on Environmental Education was held in Moscow on July 3-5, and GCR will be a main participant at the VII Conference of Environmental Education in Europe, 26th - 30th September in Udine, Italy.
Contact: Ms. Olga Viazmina, gcrus@glas.apc.org, tel: +70 95 299 70 69
September: 4-10 State of the World Forum, New York City; 20 Launching of the GC Chemical Weapons Campaign 2000, Bern; 25 GCI Earth Charter Youth Contest Awards Ceremony, Udine, Italy; 26-30 VII Conference on Environmental Education in Europe, Udine.
October: 10 Civilization Magazine launch of Gorbachev edited Global Water Crisis issue, including a round table discussion, Washington DC; 13 GG USA 4th Annual Millennium Awards Ceremony, Los Angeles.
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