Counting the environmental toll of war – and why peace is a climate solution

Extracts from an article by Sue Wareham published on 20th June, 2024

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In this article Sue Wareham is warning us about the environmental impact of war, during and after the conflict. Referring to recent research from different sources the author offers the following information:

Extracts

Projected emissions from the first 120 days of the Israel-Gaza conflict were “greater that the annual emissions of 26 individual countries and territories.”

Military operations remain an under-analysed dimension of the climate crisis …

Sue Wareham writes: One’s immediate thought on looking at any of the multitude of photos of the devastation of Gaza is a profound sense of sorrow and grief at the capacity of humans to wreak such destruction and suffering.

One can’t help wondering also: when rebuilding eventually tarts, where will whole neighbourhoods of rubble go?

The carbon costs of war and its preparations are of increasing concern to civil society…

The Conflict and Environment Observatory (CEOBS) estimates that the world’s militaries may be responsible for 5.5 percent of global emission …

As we strive for rapid emissions reductions across the board it makes no sense to ignore a sector that contributes significantly to the climate crisis and yet escapes accountability for its role.

We need action in the form of demilitarisation – for the people of Gaza, Israel, Sudan, Ukraine and many other places, and for the climate that is so critical to the health of all of us.

To read this article in full, please click here.

 

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