The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons.

Full name: Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
Native name: Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
Founded: 1997
Date awarded: 11 October 2013

A world without chemical weapons

The OPCW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its work in eliminating chemical weapons. Its main task is to implement the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). The Convention has four main objectives: to destroy all existing chemical weapons, to monitor the chemical industry to prevent new weapons from re-emerging, to provide assistance and protection to States Parties against chemical threats, and to foster international cooperation to strengthen implementation of the Convention and promote the peaceful use of chemistry. The organisation has 190 member states, representing 98 per cent of the world’s landmass and chemical industries. The OPCW is an independent international organisation, which cooperates with the UN. It is headquartered in the Hague and led by Ahmet Üzümcü.

In line with Alfred Nobel’s will

Disarmament is a key point in Alfred Nobel’s will. The Norwegian Nobel Committee has underlined the need to eliminate nuclear weapons through a number of awards, such as the prizes to Linus C. Pauling in 1962, Andrei Sakharov in 1975, Alva Myrdal and Alfonso G. Robles in 1982, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War in 1985, Joseph Rotblat and the Pugwash movement in 1995, the IAEA and Mohamed ElBaradei in 2005, and Barack Obama in 2009. By awarding the prize to the OPCW, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to contribute to the elimination of chemical weapons.

What are chemical weapons and the Chemical Weapons Convention?

Chemical weapons are any of several chemical compounds, usually toxic agents, that are intended to kill, injure, or incapacitate enemy personnel. Use of chemical weapons was banned by the Geneva Protocol of 1925. The agreement was prompted by the international community’s concern over the use of poison gas during WWI. The Protocol banned the use of chemical weapons, but not their manufacture and storage. In 1992–1993 an international convention was drawn up, which also banned the manufacture and stockpiling of chemical weapons. The Chemical Weapons Convention came into effect in 1997.

A century of chemical weapons

Chemical weapons were used extensively in WWI. Experience from that conflict led to the 1925 ban on the use of chemical weapons in war. Nevertheless, chemical weapons continued to be used. During WWII chemical weapons were used in Hitler’s mass extermination programme. During the Cold War, the USA and the USSR stored huge stockpiles of chemical weapons, many of which have still not been destroyed. Terrorists have also used chemical weapons, e.g. during the Tokyo metro attack in 1995. Chemical weapons were again used in Syria in 2013, and the OPCW is playing an important role in their removal.

Excerpt from the Nobel Committee’s prize announcement

“(…) the OPCW have defined the use of chemical weapons as a taboo under international law. Recent events in Syria, where chemical weapons have again been put to use, have underlined the need to enhance the efforts to do away with such weapons. Some states are still not members of the OPCW. Certain states have not observed the deadline, which was April 2012, for destroying their chemical weapons. This applies especially to the USA and Russia.”

Watch the announcement here

Learn more

"You cannot see them. You cannot smell them. And they offer no warning for the unsuspecting"

Read or watch the Nobel Prize lectures by Ahmet Üzümcü, Director-General of OPCW.

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