Rising Nato military spending to cause huge spike in emissions, report warns

"Now a review of 11 recent academic studies by Scientists for Global Responsibility has found that each additional $100bn of military spending leads to an estimated 32m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) being dumped into the atmosphere. The emissions come from direct sources such as fuel-guzzling combat planes, warships and armored vehicles, as well as indirect emissions from transporting equipment, complex global supply-chains, and the effects of war fighting itself."

"Nato, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is a political and military alliance between 32 European and North American countries. In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and mounting threats by Donald Trump to abandon historic allies Nato announced plans to increase military spending to 3.5% of gross domestic product (GDP), as part of a broader security spending target of 5% GDP for each member country."

Planned NATO military spending increases could generate roughly 1,320m tonnes of CO2e over the next decade. Each additional $100bn of military spending is estimated to add about 32m tonnes of CO2e. Military emissions arise from direct fuel use by combat planes, warships and armored vehicles, and from indirect sources such as transporting equipment, complex global supply chains, and the effects of warfighting. Raising defense spending to 3.5% of GDP would add about 132m tCO2e, on top of a prior $200bn boost that added an estimated 64m tCO2e. Official military emissions data remain patchy or absent, making alignment with climate goals extremely difficult.

Read at www.theguardian.com