From October 24-30 (UN Disarmament Week), a team of volunteers in New York City counted out $542 billion – the approximate global nuclear weapons budget for the next five years – and symbolically reallocated this to climate protection, poverty alleviation and the Sustainable Development Goals. The money was counted in 542,000 mock notes each of value $1million.
The event was part of a global campaign to cut nuclear weapons budgets, end investments in the nuclear weapons industry and re-direct these budgets and investments to peace, disarmament, climate protection and sustainable development.
'Most people have no idea how much is $1 billion, let alone $500 billion, says Holger Gūssefeld, World Future Council adviser and conceiver of the money counting project. 'By counting this note-by-note we come to realise the absolute insanity of investing so much money in devices designed to bring unimaginable misery into the world instead of using these precious resources to solve the global social, humanitarian and environmental problems.’
‘We had hoped to count 1 million notes to make up $1 trillion, the nuclear weapons budget for the next ten years’ said Susanna Choe, Co-founder of Peace Accelerators and one of the main money counters. ‘But this amount of money is so vast, that even counting with notes of $1million and with many volunteers counting, it was too much.’
We filled basket after basket with billions of dollars,’ said Bill Kidd, Member of the Scottish Parliament and another of the main money counters. ‘This money could protect the climate, end poverty, ensure universal health care, support peace and help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals if it were not wasted on nuclear weapons.’
Susanna Choe, Bill Kidd and Vanda Proskova counting nuclear weapons money. Behind them is the graphic which depicts what the money could fund if it was not invested in nuclear weapons.
Money Counting from the United Nations to the City
The money counting started at the United Nations (click here for video of UN launch) and then continued at various locations around the city including:
- With Students Strike 4 Climate (Fridays for Future) in front of the United Nations;
- Outside Jacobs Engineering, a nuclear weapons contractor, during which a letter was delivered to the company informing them of the divestment campaign against them;
- In front of New York City Hall, to support initiatives for the City Council to end investments by NYC pension funds in nuclear weapons companies, and to establish a public committee to advance NYC’s role as a nuclear-weapon-free zone;
- At Strawberry Fields in Central Park (a location honoring John Lennon), Washington Square Park (wth New York University students) and at the Gandhi statue in Union Square;
- The Hub in the Chelsea neighourhood of New York City, where most of the money was counted and re-allocated to baskets representing the 17 SDGs.
Volunteers help count the nuclear weapons money at the Hub.
Move the Nuclear Weapons Money and the SANE Act
The money counting action was part of Move the Nuclear Weapons Money, a global campaign to cut nuclear weapons, end investments in the nuclear weapons industry and re-direct these budgets and investments to peace and sustainable development. (See New anti-nuclear campaign to stop funding of nuclear weapons, Associated Press).
“The nuclear weapons industry is powerful and wealthy, and has a stranglehold on the political process in most of the nuclear armed states,” said Alyn Ware, Co-founder of the Move the Nuclear Weapons Money campaign. “But we can take back this power by supporting legislative efforts to cut nuclear weapons budgets, and by ending investments by our cities, universities, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and banks in the nuclear weapons industry.”
U.S. Senator Markey, an endorser of Move the Nuclear Weapons Money, used the opportunity of the money counting week to introduce an updated version of the Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditure (SANE) Act. The Act, which was introduced also into the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Blumenauer, aims to improve national security and budgetary sanity by cutting redundant and destabilizing nuclear weapons programs.
'The United States should fund education, not annihilation; that is our future,' said Senator Markey. 'We need sanity when crafting America’s budget priorities, and more and improved nuclear weapons defies common sense. The SANE Act cuts nuclear weapons and delivery systems that we don’t need so we can invest in the people and programs that will make America safe and prosperous in the future.'
We encourage U.S. citizens to call on your congress members to endorse the SANE Act.
Senator Ed Markey, Co-President of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament and lead sponsor of the SANE Act. Markey is also co-author with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of the Green New Deal.
Money countings in other cities/countries
There were also countings of smaller amounts of nuclear weapons money in London, New Mexico, Philadelphia and New Zealand.
In London, a counting of £5.2billion in 10,400 notes of £500,000 each was organised by Conscience: Taxes for Peace not War and held on Saturday 26 October outside theMinistry of Defence. See Photos of the London event, London Count the nuclear weapons money action flyer or visit the London event facebook page.
In New Mexico there were counting events at Taos Plaza (Taos), State Capital Roundhouse (Santa Fe), Socorro Plaza Gazebo (Socorro) and outside the Los Alamos National Laboratory (Los Alamos). The events were organised by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety in cooperation with Youth United for Climate Crisis Action and Taosenos for Peaceful and Sustainable Futures. See Activists Count ‘Nuclear Weapons Money’ In Los Alamos (Los Alamos Reporter), Photos of the New Mexico countings and the blog $13 billion of public money to be counted for peace at New Mexico nuclear weapons facilities.
In Philadelphia, a counting of $4.5 billion was held on October 24 at City Hall Philadelphia Courtyard organised by the Granny Peace Brigade Philadelphia. The event include songs led by the Grannies such as ‘We are a gaggle of Grannies’. See Photos of the Philadelphia counting and some videos of the counting action.
In New Zealand, a counting event was organised in the New Zealand Parliament co-hosted by PNND Member Louisa Wall MP and the United Nations Association of NZ. New Zealand banned nuclear weapons by legislation adopted in parliament in 1987, and has followed up by ending nuclear weapons investments by government managed funds. See videos of the New Zealand event.
Money counting with School Strike 4 Peace and Fridays for Future in front of the United Nations.
Counting nuclear weapons money in the rain - in front of the Ministry of Defence in London.
Counting outside Los Alamos National Laboratory (nuclear bomb design and development facility) in New Mexico.
Granny Peace Brigade Philadelphia counting the money and singing cheeky anti-nuclear songs.
Nuclear weapons money event in the New Zealand parliament.
Alyn at the money counting event at Strawberry Fields, imagining what money could support if it wasn't invested in nuclear weapons. Meanwhile a busker sings 'Imagine' in the background.
From Basel Peace Office. Read more here.
