Academic papers

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Nature | Decarbonize the military — mandate emissions reporting

01.12.22
This article in Nature outlines the state of military emissions reporting so far and presents a way forward for academia and civil society to combat the problem.

Pentagon fuel use, climate change and the costs of war

01.09.19
Neta Crawford explores the U.S. military’s contribution to climate change. She finds that although the Defense Department has significantly reduced its fossil fuel consumption since the early 2000s, it remains the world’s single largest consumer of oil – and as a result, one of the world’s top greenhouse gas emitters.

Hidden carbon costs of the ‘everywhere war’: Logistics, geopolitical ecology, and the carbon boot-print of the US military

19.06.19
This paper examines the US military's impact on climate by analysing the geopolitical ecology of its global logistical supply chains. It argues that to account for the US military as a major climate actor, one must understand the logistical supply chain that makes its acquisition and consumption of hydrocarbon-based fuels possible.

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Joint call | NATO: Commit to credible climate action

07.09.22
A joint call ahead of COP27 urging NATO to make its methodology for counting emissions public, commit to thorough and transparent reporting, and pledge to cut military emissions.

Joint call | Governments: commit to meaningful military emissions cuts at COP26

20.05.21
A joint civil society call launched by CEOBS that urges governments to set meaningful emissions reduction targets and outlines what these targets need to include to be meaningful. The joint call has been signed by more than 200 organisations.

Articles

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CEOBS | The COP where we began talking about conflict emissions

20.12.22
A month on from COP27, Ellie Kinney reflects on her time in Sharm El-Sheikh. Ellie landed at the COP with our newly published policy brief, and with a mission to advocate for better reporting of military greenhouse gas emissions.

CEOBS | Climate trackers: join us in shining the spotlight on militaries

02.09.22
Pressure from campaigners, researchers and journalists has been instrumental in driving climate action by states and large corporations. Climate action tracking websites and reports play a vital role in informing this process but as Ellie Kinney writes, the leading climate tracking sites are silent on military emissions.

CEOBS | NATO won’t say how it will count its carbon emissions

30.06.22
NATO has pledged to reduce its instituational emissions but won't publish the methodology it will use to count them. Doug Weir argues that this lack of transparency underscores the importance of military emissions instead being addressed by the UNFCCC.

Media

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Berliner Zeitung | Putin should pay for climate damage from war in Ukraine

14.12.22
In this article, Michael Maier reports (in german) on the environental consequence of the war in Ukraine, featuring interviews with Lennard de Klerk, author of the report 'Climate damage caused by Russia's war in Ukraine', Stuart Parkinson from Scientists for Global Responsibility, and Oliver Heidrich, Senior Lecturer at the University of Newcastle.    

Stars and Stripes | Militaries worldwide produce more greenhouse gases than all but 3 countries, study says

14.12.22
Stars and Stripes provides independent news and information to the U.S. military community, including active-duty servicemembers, DoD civilians, veterans, contractors, and their families. In this article, Phillip Walter Wellman reports on the CEOBS and SGR report 'Estimating the military’s global greenhouse gas emissions'.

The Guardian | Ukraine uses COP27 to highlight environmental cost of Russia’s war

14.12.22
Oliver Milman, environmental reporter for Guardian US, reports on Ukraine's focus at COP27 on the environmental impact of Russia's invasion.

Reports

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UK Strategic Command Defence Support | Sustainable Support Strategy

14.12.22
The Sustainable Support Strategy is Defence Support’s initial response to the challenges climate change poses. It outlines a plan to reduce emissions and increase the sustainability of operations, through novel approaches and technology.

CEOBS/SGR | Estimating the military’s global greenhouse gas emissions

14.12.22
In this joint study with Scientists for Global Responsibility, we describe an innovative new methodology to provide updated estimates for global and regional military GHG emissions. In particular, we find that the total military carbon footprint is approximately 5.5% of global emissions- greater than that of Russia.

MAPW Australia | Defence Emissions: Briefing Paper

23.11.22
This briefing paper, published by The Medical Association for Prevention of War (Australia), explores military emissions within the context of the Australia Defence Force.

Videos

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COP27 | Dealing with military and conflict related emissions under the UNFCCC

14.12.22
This COP27 side event is co-hosted by the Government of Ukraine and The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD). At this event, Ukraine launched a new methodology to measure the emissions resulting from Russia's invasion, and speakers discusses how this so far ignored issue can be dealt with under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement.

CEOBS | COP27 virtual panel: Military Emissions Gap annual update 2022

14.12.22
In this virtual panel discussion, we launch our annual update on the state of military greenhouse gas reporting to the UNFCCC, alongside our framework for tracking military emissions. The panel also discusses an innovative new methodology to estimate global military emissions, and learns how Green Korea United are holding their Government to account.

CEOBS/CI | Climate change and the military: tracking their carbon emissions

12.01.22
Emissions from militaries make a major contribution to the climate crisis. Just how big this is remains unclear, and without public attention, that's how it will stay. This is why we launched www.militaryemissions.org - it allows anyone to see the military emissions data that the top 60 military spenders report to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Spoiler: most…