Pope Leo urges states to pursue autonomous-weapons ban

Pope Leo XIV urged states meeting in Geneva in November to take concrete steps toward banning lethal autonomous weapons, according to an October 30 address published by the Holy See.

The address was a policy appeal, not an announcement that a treaty, regulation or binding state commitment had been adopted. A United Nations expert group had adopted a consensus final report on September 4, but the report set out elements for a possible instrument and recommendations for further decisions rather than establishing a weapons ban.

Leo delivered the address to participants in a meeting organized by the Pontifical Academy for Life and the Future of Life Institute. He said decisions affecting human life, freedom and the use of force must remain under effective, informed and responsible human oversight.

The expert group’s final report says international humanitarian law applies to the development and use of lethal autonomous weapon systems and that control and human judgment are needed to uphold compliance. It recommends that states at the Seventh Review Conference consider and endorse its elements without prejudging the outcome of future discussions, and decide by consensus how the group’s work should proceed.

The review conference was scheduled for November 16–20. Its participating states, not the Pope’s October 30 address, were to determine the next steps in the UN process.