Literature reviews on the effect of nuclear wars

In December 2024, the United Nations General Assembly decided to establish an independent Scientific Panel on the Effects of Nuclear War. UNIDIR (United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research), in collaboration with UNODA (United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs), is providing substantive and procedural support for the Panel’s work; however, some of the scientific and technical requirements exceed the Institute’s current capacity and expertise. To address this gap—and in response to a specific request from the Panel—this project has been established to produce a synthesis of the technical literature on the cascading impacts of nuclear war, including potential effects on economic and financial systems, food and energy systems, political stability, critical infrastructure, and the interdependencies among these systems.