There is a song playing in my head as I write this – Edwin Star’s 1970 release ‘War’. The Chorus is on repeat in my mind:

War. huh.
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, say it again.

I want to make sure that we are all absolutely clear about the impact war has on our planet, about how war accelerates climate change, and about how war prevents us from taking action by diverting resources. War—covert and otherwise—hastens the destruction of the planet. Some facts:

• Estimates of global military emissions suggest it makes up to 5.5% of total global emissions, more than double that of the civil aviation sector.

• Compared to country emissions, the global military would rank as the fourth biggest polluter, with total emissions bigger than that of Russia.

• The biggest greenhouse gas emitters – today and historically – are also the biggest military spenders. This is not an accident but is integral to the way fossil fuel development and expansion has always been tied to military expansion.

• In 2022, the US military reported that it generated an estimated 48 million metric tonnes of CO2.

• Military spending is continually prioritized over climate action spending. In 2022, global military spending reached $2208 billion (yep that’s more than 2 trillion). That figure is just shy of the $2400 Billion needed for all the UN Climate Convention financing (mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage), and so much more that what has actually been committed.

• The U.S., the largest historic emitter of planet-heating emissions, offered a mere $17 million to the Loss and Damage Fund. Meanwhile, U.S. fossil fuel industry subsidies surged to $7 trillion in 2022. U.S. military aid to Israel and Ukraine climbed into the billions this fall as well.

• The planet-warming emissions generated during the first two months of the war on Gaza were greater than the annual carbon footprint of more than 20 of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations, new research reveals. Almost half of those emissions come from U.S. cargo planes flying military supplies to Israel.

• The environmental situation in Gaza is now catastrophic, as much of the farmland, energy and water infrastructure has been destroyed or polluted, with devastating health implications probably for decades to come, experts have warned.

I have a poster in my kitchen that says “War is not healthy for children and other living things.” Indeed. Life on this planet as we know it, is being threatened by the military industrial complex – the emissions, the destruction, the displacement of millions and the political influence it holds. It is time for all of us climate change champions and climate justice advocates to demand a stop to the war machine, while we still can and before it is too late.

Demand a ceasefire now.

Demand the redistribution of public resources and a just green transition. We the people of the world have the solutions. We just need conflict free zones and the resources to repair and implement, ensuring a just and abundant world for all.

Susan Phillips
Executive Director

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Wars are in the way of Climate Justice