Marian McNichol Settle Quaker Meeting.
If we are serious about reducing emissions and averting climate crisis then we need to count military use in our calculations. Currently they are not included. Globally the military are talking about reducing their emissions, but don’t be fooled. Greenwashing isn’t possible when the devastation of war is included.
The climate crisis is the inevitable result of an approach that exploits resources without considering consequences; and part of the problem is the use of military power to protect the interests of the exploiters.
The United Nations calls upon all governments to commit to targets on emissions and to be honest that these targets cannot be met if military activity is not included in the measurement of CO2 (see: https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/net-zero-coalition).
- The Paris Agreement https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement set out that every sector of human activity is subject to carbon reporting and reduction targets, with one single exception, the global military. Independent studies suggest the military boot print could contribute as much as six percent to global emissions exceeding the impact of civil aviation (see: https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2019/Pentagon%20Fuel%20Use,%20Climate%20Change%20and%20the%20Costs%20of%20War%20Final.pdf www.sgr.org.uk and https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/does-climate-change-cause-war-or-does-war-cause-climate-change).
- This figure covers the whole cycle: extraction of raw materials and manufacture of equipment and weaponry; trials and training with massive fuel use; maintenance of vast numbers of bases and buildings worldwide; use of fuels and explosives in warfare and resulting fires; and, often overlooked, the extensive rebuilding of devastated infrastructure with its reliance on carbon-heavy cement and steel.
- Military spending is currently £1,982 billion, climate finance £79.6 billion. For every £1 we spend reducing UK Carbon emissions, we spend £7.40 on the military
- We already know that war is a humanitarian catastrophe causing unfathomable suffering, but we must recognise that it is an environmental catastrophe too. The relationship between climate change and war is a vicious circle. It is now well recognised that climate change can lead to soil degradation, competition for scarce resources, mass migration and instability, thus greatly multiplying the threat of war.
More information may be found at: http://demilitarize.org.uk/climate/
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