ETH Global Lecture Series: Science Meets Diplomacy and World Security

Science Meets Diplomacy and World Security

The Case of the Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

Two of the major threats facing the world in the 21st century are climate change and the possible use of nuclear weapons. Nuclear testing is a vital step in developing nuclear weapons, and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), a multilateral global treaty signed by more than 180 states, bans all nuclear tests in all environments. CTBTO, the Organization supporting the CTBT, has developed a unique and sophisticated verification system that uses four different technologies to monitor the entire earth for signs of nuclear testing. This system, designed by scientists and negotiated by diplomats, has by now proven to be even more capable than initially envisaged, and the data collected by it is also successfully used in a variety of other civil and scientific applications. Join us to find out more about how science and global diplomacy interact.

His Excellency Dr. Lassina Zerbo is the Executive Secretary of the CTBTO, a position which he assumed on 1 August 2013. He previously served as Director of the organization’s International Data Centre (IDC). He is a national of Burkina Faso. Zerbo has been instrumental in cementing the CTBTO’s position as the world’s centre of excellence for nuclear test-ban verification, as well as in driving forward efforts towards the entry into force and universalization of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). In November 2016, the Member States of the highest decision-making body of the CTBTO Preparatory Commission re-appointed Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo to a further four year term of office until 31 July 2021.