secretary general antonio cherice has called ratification the culmination of a worldwide movement to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons it represents a meaningful commitment towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons which remains the highest disarmament priority of the united nations. we'll bring in our guests in a moment but 1st some background it's formally called the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons and the u.n. opened it up for signatures in 2017 countries signing a promise to never develop test produce manufacture otherwise acquire possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices that commitment is legally binding but critics say there's no real way to enforce it and as we mentioned none of the world's acknowledged nuclear powers have signed it in fact the u.s. government has spent the last several years trying to get some countries to withdraw their signatures. all right let's bring in our guests in london sahil shah a policy fellow at the european leadership network in geneva beat