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The conference is expected to consider building blocks for an international instrument. Whether that leads to binding rules remains unresolved.
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The Seventh Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons will decide how states continue work on lethal autonomous weapons after a UN expert group produced elements for a possible instrument. States are expected to consider and endorse those elements, but the report does not specify whether the instrument would be a treaty or another form of measure. The conference’s decision on the future work mandate will show whether negotiations move closer to the binding limits sought by the UN chief and the ICRC.
The conference runs November 16–20, 2026, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, under Swiss Ambassador Julien Thöni’s presidency.
The expert group adopted its final report on September 4, 2026; states are expected to consider and endorse its proposed elements.
Endorsing those elements would not itself create a legally binding treaty, and the instrument’s form remains undecided.
On November 16–20, 2026, states will gather at Geneva’s Palais des Nations for a weapons conference expected to shape the next stage of international work on lethal autonomous weapons. The UN’s official event listing confirms the dates and venue, but does not announce an opening time, timezone or livestream link.
The gathering is the Seventh Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, usually shortened to CCW. It will take place in the Assembly Hall under the presidency of Swiss Ambassador Julien Thöni. This is a review of an existing weapons convention, not a conference dedicated solely to AI.
The autonomous-weapons agenda follows a three-year expert process. On September 4, 2026, the 2024–2026 Group of Governmental Experts adopted its final report on emerging technologies in lethal autonomous weapons systems. That report contains elements of a possible instrument, alongside other possible measures to address those weapons.
According to the UN conference description, states are expected to consider and endorse those elements. But the expert report leaves the instrument’s nature open.
The conference is also expected to decide the mandate and format of future autonomous-weapons work within the CCW. States will consider not just proposed content, but how work on that content should proceed.
The UN Secretary-General and the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross are pressing for a more specific destination. In their renewed 2026 joint call, they urged states to negotiate and adopt a legally binding instrument with clear prohibitions and restrictions on autonomous weapon systems.
Their appeal warns of growing risks to civilians, compliance with international humanitarian law and human accountability. They identify this review conference as a critical opportunity to move toward negotiations.
The CCW already provides a structure for restricting particular weapons. It has 128 contracting parties and five protocols covering areas including mines, incendiary weapons, blinding laser weapons and explosive remnants of war. Its framework convention and attached protocols allow states to negotiate additional protocols as weapons and conflicts change.
Held every five years, the review conference also assesses the convention’s implementation, scope and operation, along with developments in warfare and their humanitarian implications. For autonomous weapons, the concrete test is the mandate states give that work before the conference closes on November 20.
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