The Seventh Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) will meet at the Palais des Nations in Geneva from 16 to 20 November 2026, presided over by Ambassador Julien Thöni of Switzerland. According to the United Nations Office at Geneva, the conference is particularly significant for the future of discussions on autonomous weapons systems.
States will consider the final report of the Group of Governmental Experts on lethal autonomous weapons systems, adopted on 4 September 2026. The report recommends that the conference formulate a set of elements of an instrument and other possible measures, and decide how the Group’s work should continue. The UN notes that the report contains the first-ever agreed consensus characterisation of a lethal autonomous weapon system.
On 30 October 2026, addressing a meeting organised by the Pontifical Academy for Life and the Future of Life Institute, Pope Leo XIV said that “decisions affecting human life, freedom and the use of force must always remain subject to effective, informed and responsible human oversight.” He encouraged “the States meeting in Geneva in November to take concrete steps toward banning lethal autonomous weapons.”
