Interview with Daniel Högsta, Campaign Coordinator at the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
Nov. 26, 2018
Japan should sign the nuclear weapons ban treaty
by Miho Kuwajima and Yumi Kanazaki, Staff Writers
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), a non-governmental organization, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 for its contribution toward establishing the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Daniel Högsta, 31, the Campaign Coordinator at ICAN, recently visited the A-bombed city of Hiroshima for the first time. In an interview with the Chugoku Shimbun, Mr. Högsta urged the Japanese government to immediately sign the nuclear weapons ban treaty.
One year has passed since ICAN received the Nobel Peace Prize. Do you think favorable winds are blowing for nuclear abolition?
Yes, I think we’ve been quite happy with the progress. We’ve got more opportunities to do that now, obviously, with the Nobel Peace Prize. It gives us stronger credibility as an organization and added responsibility to kind of lead this movement. We keep pushing not only the nuclear weapons states but also the nuclear umbrella states, like Japan. As you know, the treaty needs 50 nations to ratify it for it to enter into force. Currently we have 19 ratifications and 69 signatures. So this is a good pace compared to other treaties. And we haven’t seen some of the biggest champions of the treaty ratify it yet. South Africa and Ireland, for example. We are still waiting for their ratifications. Those should happen this year. We are quite confident that by the end of 2019, the treaty will enter into force. I mean, that’s our target.
ICAN has a report called “Don’t Bank on the Bomb,” which focuses on the banks that are putting money into companies that build nuclear weapons. In the Netherlands and Norway, which are part of the nuclear umbrella (of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO), the government pension funds, which are the biggest in the country, and many other big funds, have decided to move their money away from companies that produce nuclear weapons. It’s a very powerful sign.
The A-bombed country opposes the nuclear weapons ban treaty. Japan continues to submit a resolution on the abolition of nuclear weapons to the U.N., each year since 1994, but its language has been watered down in recent years.
The Japanese government prefers to say that they “want to be a bridge builder” and they point to a “step by step approach” or a “building blocks approach.” What has become clear over the last few years is that these words are code for “we don’t want to do anything.” That’s what they really mean. Because if you really want to be a bridge builder, the best thing to do is to sign the instrument that calls for the abolition of nuclear weapons. They should support the TPNW (the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons). They should sign it and then put pressure on its allies, like the United States.
I think it was also last year, but the Japanese resolution at the U.N. received a lot of criticism because it started to remove all this kind of language that had been agreed upon before, that was mainstream language for many years. Suddenly last year, they started to take out these points that refer to past agreements of the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty). And this year the Japanese resolution talks about Article 6 of the NPT, which is very normal. Everyone agrees that Article 6 is the clear obligation of all nations. And even that is too much for the United States. The United States keeps saying that it is not interested in these past agreements. So what is the purpose of the Japanese resolution? It’s clear that Japan cares a lot about this resolution so the Japanese government can show the Japanese public that they are doing something about nuclear disarmament.
The A-bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and those who campaign for nuclear abolition are aging. How can we get young people involved in activities like ICAN?
The TPNW would not have happened without the support and the calls from hibakusha (A-bomb survivors). They are the leaders of the nuclear disarmament movement. They have authority and really powerful testimony. It’s also the way they work as campaigners to bring this message forward. I think younger generations are obviously interested in the same things as any other generation. When they are exposed to the stories of the hibakusha and the histories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they will be motivated to act just like previous generations have done.
I think the difference now is that new tools are available to us. Part of growing up now means using these kind of things (social media) in all parts of your life. There is a power in younger generations who can do this so easily, like riding a bicycle. They think in totally different ways and know creative ways of using social media for advocacy, which is a powerful thing. That’s why ICAN puts so much emphasis on social media. The story of nuclear weapons is a very heavy, very sad, topic. It’s important to share the message, but it’s also important to keep the message positive and actionable. Make sure that people are motivated to do something. Try to make it actionable.
What motivated you to start working for nuclear abolition?
Seven years ago, I was studying law at the University of Edinburgh. I was quite interested in international law, and law involving treaties. But I decided I didn’t want to be a lawyer, so what could I do? And I looked at organizations in Geneva and ICAN seemed to be very interesting to me. I then applied for an internship with ICAN and moved to Geneva. Six years later, I’m still here. I got lucky.
Nuclear weapons are often presented in very abstract and far-away terms. I think for a lot of people in the world, even in Japan, nuclear weapons are a very complicated issue. This suggests the power struggle between the United States and Russia, security, Kim Jong-un. Actually, the situation is quite simple. All activities that are better to be considered unacceptable or could lead to inhumane actions, those activities should be banned. No nation should engage in them.
In the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, there were a few things that struck me. In particular, there was the tricycle of the young boy, going out and playing with this favorite toy. You see the tricycle and you hear the story and then you learn that he did not survive. There was a journal entry that I think a young girl had written. It was from August 5 and she was writing about what she had been doing with her family. She was thinking about her life, up to the day before August 6, and then there were no more journal entries after that. I think it’s a totally different experience to see these things in person. It is very powerful and means a lot to be here. It’s really inspiring as well. The human face on the inhumane nature of nuclear weapons shows the importance of nuclear disarmament. And that the work we are doing for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is valuable. It’s very motivating for the future, for the work of this campaign going forward.
Profile
Daniel Högsta
Born in Sweden. Graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2012. Joined ICAN in 2013 after working as an intern at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. After experiencing positions that included network coordinator, he assumed his current role in 2018.
(Originally published on November 26, 2018)
by Miho Kuwajima and Yumi Kanazaki, Staff Writers
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), a non-governmental organization, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 for its contribution toward establishing the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Daniel Högsta, 31, the Campaign Coordinator at ICAN, recently visited the A-bombed city of Hiroshima for the first time. In an interview with the Chugoku Shimbun, Mr. Högsta urged the Japanese government to immediately sign the nuclear weapons ban treaty.
One year has passed since ICAN received the Nobel Peace Prize. Do you think favorable winds are blowing for nuclear abolition?
Yes, I think we’ve been quite happy with the progress. We’ve got more opportunities to do that now, obviously, with the Nobel Peace Prize. It gives us stronger credibility as an organization and added responsibility to kind of lead this movement. We keep pushing not only the nuclear weapons states but also the nuclear umbrella states, like Japan. As you know, the treaty needs 50 nations to ratify it for it to enter into force. Currently we have 19 ratifications and 69 signatures. So this is a good pace compared to other treaties. And we haven’t seen some of the biggest champions of the treaty ratify it yet. South Africa and Ireland, for example. We are still waiting for their ratifications. Those should happen this year. We are quite confident that by the end of 2019, the treaty will enter into force. I mean, that’s our target.
ICAN has a report called “Don’t Bank on the Bomb,” which focuses on the banks that are putting money into companies that build nuclear weapons. In the Netherlands and Norway, which are part of the nuclear umbrella (of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO), the government pension funds, which are the biggest in the country, and many other big funds, have decided to move their money away from companies that produce nuclear weapons. It’s a very powerful sign.
The A-bombed country opposes the nuclear weapons ban treaty. Japan continues to submit a resolution on the abolition of nuclear weapons to the U.N., each year since 1994, but its language has been watered down in recent years.
The Japanese government prefers to say that they “want to be a bridge builder” and they point to a “step by step approach” or a “building blocks approach.” What has become clear over the last few years is that these words are code for “we don’t want to do anything.” That’s what they really mean. Because if you really want to be a bridge builder, the best thing to do is to sign the instrument that calls for the abolition of nuclear weapons. They should support the TPNW (the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons). They should sign it and then put pressure on its allies, like the United States.
I think it was also last year, but the Japanese resolution at the U.N. received a lot of criticism because it started to remove all this kind of language that had been agreed upon before, that was mainstream language for many years. Suddenly last year, they started to take out these points that refer to past agreements of the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty). And this year the Japanese resolution talks about Article 6 of the NPT, which is very normal. Everyone agrees that Article 6 is the clear obligation of all nations. And even that is too much for the United States. The United States keeps saying that it is not interested in these past agreements. So what is the purpose of the Japanese resolution? It’s clear that Japan cares a lot about this resolution so the Japanese government can show the Japanese public that they are doing something about nuclear disarmament.
The A-bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and those who campaign for nuclear abolition are aging. How can we get young people involved in activities like ICAN?
The TPNW would not have happened without the support and the calls from hibakusha (A-bomb survivors). They are the leaders of the nuclear disarmament movement. They have authority and really powerful testimony. It’s also the way they work as campaigners to bring this message forward. I think younger generations are obviously interested in the same things as any other generation. When they are exposed to the stories of the hibakusha and the histories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they will be motivated to act just like previous generations have done.
I think the difference now is that new tools are available to us. Part of growing up now means using these kind of things (social media) in all parts of your life. There is a power in younger generations who can do this so easily, like riding a bicycle. They think in totally different ways and know creative ways of using social media for advocacy, which is a powerful thing. That’s why ICAN puts so much emphasis on social media. The story of nuclear weapons is a very heavy, very sad, topic. It’s important to share the message, but it’s also important to keep the message positive and actionable. Make sure that people are motivated to do something. Try to make it actionable.
What motivated you to start working for nuclear abolition?
Seven years ago, I was studying law at the University of Edinburgh. I was quite interested in international law, and law involving treaties. But I decided I didn’t want to be a lawyer, so what could I do? And I looked at organizations in Geneva and ICAN seemed to be very interesting to me. I then applied for an internship with ICAN and moved to Geneva. Six years later, I’m still here. I got lucky.
Nuclear weapons are often presented in very abstract and far-away terms. I think for a lot of people in the world, even in Japan, nuclear weapons are a very complicated issue. This suggests the power struggle between the United States and Russia, security, Kim Jong-un. Actually, the situation is quite simple. All activities that are better to be considered unacceptable or could lead to inhumane actions, those activities should be banned. No nation should engage in them.
In the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, there were a few things that struck me. In particular, there was the tricycle of the young boy, going out and playing with this favorite toy. You see the tricycle and you hear the story and then you learn that he did not survive. There was a journal entry that I think a young girl had written. It was from August 5 and she was writing about what she had been doing with her family. She was thinking about her life, up to the day before August 6, and then there were no more journal entries after that. I think it’s a totally different experience to see these things in person. It is very powerful and means a lot to be here. It’s really inspiring as well. The human face on the inhumane nature of nuclear weapons shows the importance of nuclear disarmament. And that the work we are doing for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is valuable. It’s very motivating for the future, for the work of this campaign going forward.
Profile
Daniel Högsta
Born in Sweden. Graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2012. Joined ICAN in 2013 after working as an intern at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. After experiencing positions that included network coordinator, he assumed his current role in 2018.
(Originally published on November 26, 2018)
