A page from history: the 2020 Vision of 1997.

In 1997, 28 member states at the Conference on Disarmament tabled an action plan for nuclear disarmament.  It contained a timetable for achieving a nuclear-weapon-free world by the year 2020.  While the details of the timetable are no longer applicable after the passage of 12 years, the fact is that the United States and Russia have been dismantling their COld War surplus of weapons at such a rate that the 2020 target is still achievable. 
The 1997 proposal follows below; a one-page printable version can be downloaded by clicking here.

Proposal for a programme of action for the
elimination of nuclear weapons

[Submitted to the Conference on Disarmament by 28
members of the G-21 — Algeria, Bangladesh, Brazil,
Cameroon, Colombia, Cuba, Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia,
Iraq, Islamic Republic of Iran, Kenya, Mexico,
Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan,
Peru, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Syrian Aran Republic,
Venezuela, Viet Nam, Zaire and Zimbabwe; 7 August
1996, reproduced from CD/1419.]

Introduction

Effective measures for nuclear disarmament and the
elimination of the threat of nuclear war have been accorded
the highest priority by the international community. The post
Cold War era provides an unprecedented opportunity to
establish a new system of international security based on the
immutable principles of the United Nations Charter.
Rationalisations for the continued possession of nuclear
weapons need to be discarded. So long as the role of the
nuclear weapons in the context of security is not
delegitimised and existing nuclear doctrines not abandoned,
there will always be a threat of a resumption of the nuclear
arms race the escalation of the nuclear threat.
It is therefore incumbent to ensure that existing
favourable circumstances in the international relations are
utilised in order to translate the objectives of eliminating all
nuclear weapons from a rhetorical goal into a living reality.
This requires active multilateral efforts to identify, negotiate
and implement specific, step by step measures for the
complete elimination of nuclear weapons.
The Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on
the legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons dated 8
July 1996, has established that the unique characteristics of
nuclear weapons, and in particular their destructive capacity,
their capacity to cause untold human suffering, and their
ability to cause damage to generation to come, render them
potentially catastrophic. According to the Court, ‘The
destructive power of nuclear weapons cannot be contained in
either space or time. They have the potential to destroy all
civilization and the entire ecosystem of the planet’.
The International Court of Justice concluded that the threat
or use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to
the rules of international law applicable in armed conflicts,
and in particular the principles of and rules of humanitarian
law and stated that there exists an obligation for all States to
pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations
leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict
and effective international control.
As stated in its declaration of 28 March 1996 to the Plenary
of the Conference on Disarmament, the Group of 21 has
persistently pressed for commencement of negotiations in the
Conference on Disarmament on nuclear disarmament, an
objective which has been accorded the highest priority by the
international community. It will be recalled that on 14 March
1996 the Group of 21 put a decision before the Conference for
adoption (CD/1388), through which the Conference would
establish an Ad-hoc Committee on nuclear disarmament ‘to
commence negotiations on a phased programme for the
eventual elimination of nuclear weapons within a specified
framework of time’, as requested by General Assembly
Resolution 50/70 P.
This programme to be carried out by the Ad-hoc
Committee could include the following steps and measures, as
a basis for its work. The list of measures in each phase is
indicative and not exhaustive, and the order in which they are
mentioned does not necessarily reflect priority. Nevertheless,
it is to be understood that in any programme for nuclear
disarmament all measures and steps to be taken are
inextricably bound to each other.



Programme of action First Phase — 1996-2000
A. Measures aimed at reducing the nuclear threat.
􀀀 Immediate and concurrent commencement of
negotiations and early conclusion of:
􀀀 a multilaterally negotiated legally binding
instrument to assure non-nuclear weapon States
against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons;
􀀀 a convention prohibiting the use or threat of use of
nuclear weapons;
􀀀 a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons; and
􀀀 a treaty banning the production of fissile material
for nuclear weapons.
􀀀 End the qualitative improvement of nuclear weapons,
by agreements on:
􀀀 Cessation of all nuclear weapon tests and closure
of all nuclear weapon test sites; and
􀀀 Measures to prevent the use of new technologies
for the upgrading of existing nuclear weapons
systems, including the prohibition of nuclear
weapon research and development.
􀀀 Full implementation of the Treaties of Tlatelolco,
Rarotonga, Pelindaba, and South-East Asia and
establishment of additional nuclear weapons free
zones, on the basis of arrangements freely arrived at
among the States of the region concerned.
􀀀 Declarations of the stocks of nuclear weapons and of
nuclear weapons usable material.
B. Measures of nuclear disarmament
􀀀 Stand down nuclear-weapon systems from a state of
operational readiness.
􀀀 Preservation of the ABM (Anti-ballistic missiles) Treaty.
􀀀 Moratorium and prohibition on testing of outer space
weapons systems.
􀀀 Ratification and implementation of the START II Treaty.
􀀀 Placement under IAEA safeguards of nuclear fissile
material transferred from military to peaceful uses by
the nuclear weapons States.
􀀀 Further negotiations for nuclear disarmament by all
nuclear weapon States, including the cessation of
production of nuclear warheads.
􀀀 Recommendation to the General Assembly to declare
the decade 2000-2010 as the ‘Decade for nuclear
disarmament’.
Second Phase — 2000-2010
Measures to reduce the nuclear arsenals and to promote
confidence between States.
􀀀 Entry into force of the treaty to eliminate nuclear
weapons and establishment of a single integrated
multilateral comprehensive verification system to ensure
compliance, including measures such as:
􀀀 Separation of nuclear warheads from their
delivery vehicles;
􀀀 Placement of nuclear warheads in secure storage
under international supervision leading to the
removal of special nuclear materials from
warheads; and
􀀀 Preparation under international auspices of an
inventory of nuclear arsenals, including fissile
materials, nuclear warheads and their delivery
vehicles.
􀀀 Progressive and balanced reduction of missiles
intended for carrying nuclear warheads.
􀀀 Recommendation to the General Assembly to
declare the decade 2010-2020 as the ‘Decade for
the total elimination of nuclear weapons’.
Third Phase — 2010-2020
Consolidation of a Nuclear weapon free World
􀀀 Adoption of principles and mechanisms for a global
cooperative security system.
􀀀 Full implementation of the treaty to eliminate all nuclear
weapons and of its verification regime through the
completion of further measures such as:
􀀀 Conversion of all facilities devoted to the production
of nuclear weapons to peaceful purposes;
􀀀 Application of safeguards on nuclear facilities on a
universal basis; and
􀀀 Elimination of all nuclear weapons.