The first seven months of the Russian-Ukrainian war, alone, were responsible for at least 100 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.

The Conflict and Environment Observatory of the UK and 7 other international organizations presented a serious report to the high-level committee overseeing the first assessment of the Paris Agreement regarding global military emissions during the climate negotiations held in Bonn in June 2023.

The report, titled "Acknowledging Military and Conflict-related Emissions in Global Assessment," stated that the world's armies are responsible for 5.5% of greenhouse gas emissions, in addition to emissions resulting from wars and conflicts.

The report, which "Earth's Call" holds a copy of, estimated that just the first seven months of the Russian-Ukrainian war alone are responsible for at least 100 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions.

The eight organizations called in their report for the inclusion of military emissions and war emissions in the first global assessment process to achieve full accountability on this issue.

The Global Stocktake (GST), as stipulated in Article 14 of the Paris Agreement, is a process to assess the implementation of the agreement and the collective progress of the world towards achieving its long-term purpose and goals.

Military emissions

The report states that armies are among the largest consumers of fossil fuels and have large and complex supply chains, making them a major source of emissions.

To illustrate the large scale of military emissions, the report states that if the world's military forces were considered a country, they would rank fourth on the list of countries with high carbon footprints.

It also indicates that military emissions are linked to countries' military budgets, which currently exceed $2 trillion annually; with G20 countries alone representing 87% of global military spending.

The report also affirms that global spending is significantly increasing, meaning that military emissions are likely to rise in the future.

Given that reporting on military emissions is voluntary, very few countries provide detailed data on military emissions to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, according to the report.

However, despite the lack of data, the report resorts to estimates suggesting that the world's armies are responsible for 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which means that military emissions exceed the combined contributions of the civil aviation sector (2%) and the civilian shipping sector (3%).

These figures include emissions resulting from infrastructure fires or natural areas, the deterioration of natural carbon sinks such as forests, post-conflict reconstruction, and healthcare for victims, but in no way does it account for emissions produced by wars themselves.

War emissions

In addition to greenhouse gas emissions resulting from daily military activities, vehicles, ships, aircraft, properties, and operations, the report highlights the climate impact of conflicts and wars cannot be ignored.

According to the report, there has not been a year in recent history without conflicts worldwide, and yet, there are very limited studies to date on the immediate and long-term climate impact of war, as the climate impact of armed conflicts has not received much attention in the past.

During wars, the destruction of natural or human-made carbon sinks, such as forests, energy infrastructure, and oil wells, can release hundreds of millions of carbon dioxide equivalents.

The burning of cities and their reconstruction during and after conflicts nationwide can easily release emissions on a similar scale.

The report estimates that the invasion of Iraq by the US-led coalition led to the release of about 250 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents.

Estimates also indicate that activities related to the wars carried out by the US in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Syria were responsible for 440 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents between 2001 and 2018.

The report also estimates that just the first seven months of the Russian-Ukrainian war alone are responsible for at least 100 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents.

For comparison, the total carbon dioxide emissions in Ukraine in 2021 (before the war in 2022) were 185 million tons. This means that this war alone could potentially release the same amount of emissions as the entire country of Ukraine in one year.

The report states that emissions associated with conflicts are significant, without taking into account the human suffering, environmental degradation, and long-term pollution.

Data Deficit

Despite the huge climate impact of military and conflict emissions, each, the report emphasizes that there is an unacceptable lack of data on these emissions, undermining transparency and accountability for this sector in particular.

The report states that the historical exclusion of comprehensive military reports from the UNFCCC process has led to a significant gap in data related to military emissions, among a range of other consequences.

These consequences include neglecting military data from leading emission tracking products, lack of auditing and pressure on militaries to remove carbon.

Many national governments continue to deliberately not address this aspect of their emissions within their climate commitments for several reasons, including national self-interest and secrecy.

The report uses an analysis of the latest data provided to the UNFCCC by the top sixty countries by military spending, revealing that reporting remains poor quality, incomplete, and nontransparent.