This is the story of a question that’s not as easy to answer as it seems.

Two young men sit on a beach. One gazes at the horizon, thoughtful. His friend, noticing, asks, “What are you thinking about”. The question is answered with a question: “If a nuclear bomb were to explode right now, what would you choose: live or die?”

The friend doesn’t hesitate: live. If he died, he’d never see his family again, never eat his favourite foods, never travel…in short: he wouldn’t live. Intrigued, he asks: “What about you? What would you choose?”

His friend responds with a surprising “die”. Because if he lived, he’d never see his family again, never eat his favourite foods, never travel…in short: he wouldn’t live.

Overtop the image of the two silently looking out at the horizon, an overprint appears: “Let’s decide the future of nuclear arms before they decide ours”.

In 2017, 122 governments (representing 63% of the international community) voted in favour of the TPNW (Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons), looking to end once and for all, the threat that, post-Cold War, is evermore present. Currently, nine countries in the world possess nuclear arms, including weapons with a destructive capacity up to one-thousand times greater than the one launched 73 years ago over Hiroshima.

This is why the International Committee of the Red Cross wants to urge all governments to comply with the TPNW, while simultaneously raising awareness amongst the public regarding the gravity of the situation. The campaign seeks to target young people in particular, as they are less aware of the reality and destructive consequences of these weapons.