United Nations, Aug 16 (IANS): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for banning nuclear testing "for good" in an observance message for the International Day against Nuclear Tests, observed annually on August 29.

In the message, Guterres said on Thursday that across nearly eight decades, more than 2,000 nuclear tests were conducted at more than 60 sites around the world, leaving "a legacy of destruction, rendering lands uninhabitable and creating long-term health problems for people", Xinhua news agency reported.

The UN chief warned that recent calls for the resumption of nuclear testing demonstrate that the terrible lessons of the past "are being forgotten, or ignored".

"On the International Day against Nuclear Tests, the world must speak with one voice to end this practice once and for all," he stressed.

Noting that the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty is the only prohibition on all nuclear testing, and an essential, verifiable security tool, Guterres lamented: "But it is not yet in force."

"In the name of the victims of nuclear tests and future generations, I call on all countries whose ratifications are needed for the Treaty to enter into force to do so -- immediately and without conditions," Guterres said.

"Let's pass the test for humanity -- and ban nuclear testing for good," he added.