The Arms Trade and the Climate Crisis

Aug 30, 2023 | Rhun Dafydd
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Remarkably, there is limited research and publicly available information about the connection between climate change and militarism, but the impact of war and the arms industry on climate change can be observed on various levels. One of the main reasons for the lack of information or open data about the climate-militarism connection is that nations are reluctant to share for “security” reasons.

An estimated 5.5% of global emissions come from militarism, which is equivalent to 2.2 billion tons of CO2. What about closer to home, where up to 50% of UK government emissions are produced by the Ministry of Defence? It’s remarkable how little attention this issue receives within the climate change discourse and activist groups. The above just scratches the surface, but we need to start ensuring accountability for the connection between climate change and the arms industry, and how wars threaten our planet.