Vision for Peaceful Transformation to a Sustainable World (PX Vision)

– Peacebuilding by Cities for Disarmament and Common Security –

In order to achieve a world in which all people can perpetually benefit from peace by realizing the total elimination of nuclear weapons and by attaining and maintaining peaceful coexistence between the whole of humanity, subsequent to the 2020 Vision, Mayors for Peace adopted the Vision for Peaceful Transformation to a Sustainable World (PX Vision): Peacebuilding by Cities for Disarmament and Common Security at the 12th Executive Conference in July 2021. Based on this, we will build cities where citizens act with a strong sense of solidarity for the ultimate goal of realizing lasting world peace.

Objectives

Objective A: Realize a world without nuclear weapons

With cities and the citizens who live in them being their targets, and catastrophic consequences on a global scale to be inflicted by their use, nuclear weapons are the greatest threat to the safety and security of citizens’ lives. We will urge global leaders to effect peace-oriented policy change by calling on the UN and national governments, especially the nuclear-armed states and their allies, to take concrete action for the total elimination of nuclear weapons.

Objective B: Realize safe and resilient cities

In pursuit of ensuring citizens’ safety and security, we will strive to address and solve a diverse range of issues distinctive to each member’s region that are threatening the coexistence of the human race such as starvation, poverty, the plight of refugees, human rights abuses, and environmental degradation.

Objective C: Promote a culture of peace

We will seek both to create an environment that urges policymakers to demonstrate decisive leadership to effect peace-oriented policy changes that facilitate the abolition of nuclear weapons, and to establish a civil society in which citizens act with a strong sense of solidarity for the realization of peaceful coexistence between the whole of humanity. To that end, we will cultivate peace consciousness and cause a culture of peace—a culture in which the everyday actions of each member of the public are grounded in thinking about peace—to take root in civil society as the foundation of lasting world peace.

Messages of support

*Messages are listed in the order of receipt

Message from Mr. Peter Maurer, the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

I warmly congratulate Mayors for Peace on the adoption of the new Vision and Action Plan, aimed at achieving a world without nuclear weapons, safe and resilient cities and a culture of peace. Your tireless work has kept the legacy of the hibakusha – their suffering, courage and determination – alive, and was instrumental in making the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons a reality. Nuclear weapons are a major threat to human security. United we must continue working to eradicate this threat and secure a sustainable future for humanity. Your Vision shapes an inspiring path towards this common goal.

Letter from His Excellency Mr. Alexander Kmentt, President-designate of the First Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, to President Matsui

I am very impressed by this new approach by Mayors for Peace and by the Action Plan, which aims to turn this into reality. The formulated objectives “to realize “a world without nuclear weapons,” “safe and resilient cities,” and to “promote a culture of peace” are pertinent and particularly urgent today. This approach is also entirely consistent with what States Parties of the TPNW want to achieve with this new treaty. I am therefore also delighted that Mayors for Peace will also work towards the universalisation of the TPNW. In this context, I hope that your efforts of trying to convince the Japanese government to participate as observer at the 1st Meeting of States Parties will be successful. In any case, I very much look forward to seeing you in Vienna at the 1st Meeting of states Parties together with Hibakusha representatives who have done so much to make the TPNW a reality in international law. Let me close by expressing my gratitude and admiration for the continuous efforts by Mayors for Peace and by you personally to promote a world without nuclear weapons.

Message from Her Excellency Ms. Elayne Whyte, President of the UN Conference that negotiated the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

I commend Mayors for Peace for its continued and unwavering commitment to promoting a world free of nuclear weapons and to conveying the brave voice of the Hibakusha, who suffered the horrors of the atomic bombs. We are in a new era, a legal prohibition of nuclear weapons became a reality and most countries of the world have reiterated their absolute rejection of this abhorrent type of weapons. It is therefore encouraging to see that the new Action Plan places such emphasis on the efforts towards the universalization of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and I encourage the organization to continue on this excellent work.

Letter from His Excellency Mr. António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General

I send warm greetings to Mayors for Peace and congratulate you on the adoption of your Vision for Peaceful Transformation to a Sustainable World. This new vision channels our shared human aspiration for world peace into a compelling call to action for people everywhere. The total elimination of nuclear weapons remains the highest disarmament priority of the United Nations, and recent political tensions among nuclear-armed States underscore the urgent need for progress. The cities of the world have unique moral authority as advocates for their citizens, and I commend every effort to inspire dialogue around a common vision of a nuclear-weapon-free world. I thank Mayors for Peace for your continued dedication to advancing the cause of peace, in honour of the hibakusha and in service to future generations.

Letter from Ms. Beatrice Fihn, the Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)

On behalf of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), I would like to congratulate Mayors for Peace and express our steadfast support for the Vision for Peaceful Transformation to a Sustainable World, which is an exciting and bold commitment to tackling the world’s most pressing issues, including ending the threat of nuclear weapons. Mayors for Peace has long been a leading advocate for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and we are thrilled that universalization of the TPNW will be among its key goals going forward. We look forward to standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Mayors for Peace, while working with its member cities across the world, to realise this important vision.

Past Vision