You have heard many eloquent arguments in favour of disarmament, but the deliberations of this Assembly have served to show the watching world that in 1982 we are still where we were in 1978—facing the same stark choice of survival or annihilation.

Modern weapons have the deadly capacity not merely to wipe out cities, industries, and even entire populations, but also to destroy the life-giving systems on which we all depend. I am convinced that the need to preserve our shared environment provides the most persuasive argument for nations to stop this dangerously escalating spiral of the arms race.