Academic papers

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Abdelnour & Roy | Estimating Carbon Emissions from Processing Building Debris in Gaza

12.09.24
'The debris from destroyed and damaged buildings is a material representation of the unprecedented human, infrastructural, and environmental devastation resulting from the bombardment of Gaza.' This important analysis estimates the carbon cost of dealing with destroyed buildings.

SSRN | A Multitemporal Snapshot of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the Israel-Gaza Conflict

06.06.24
This paper presents an update to the previously published analysis of the first 60 days of the Israel-Gaza conflict, covering 120 days. The updated estimation proposes that the projected emissions from the first 120 days of the conflict were greater than the annual emissions of 26 individual countries and territories.

Journal of Global Security Studies: On (In-)Secure Grounds: How Military Forces Interact with Global Environmental Change

17.01.24
Military forces contribute to, struggle with, and respond to global environmental change. This entangles them ambiguously with their ecological environment. This article, from Anselm Vogler, reviews these entanglements.

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CEOBS | Checklists for assessing military emissions mitigation strategies and reporting

19.02.24
As more militaries publish climate mitigation strategies, we have developed checklists to evaluate action and amibtion which anyone can use. If your country's Ministry of Defence has published a climate mitigation strategy or chooses to report their emissions, you can use the checklists too. If you do, make sure you get in touch and let us know your findings!

UNFCCC Global Stocktake | Military and Conflict Emissions

16.02.23
This submission to the Global Stocktake calls for the inclusion of military and conflict greenhouse gas emissions in the UNFCCC'S Global Stocktake process for the Paris Agreement. This was supported by Tipping Point North South, Conflict and Environment Observatory, Scientists for Global Responsibility, Costs of War, Transform Defence, Concrete Impacts, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Zoï Environment Network…

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.

Articles

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CEOBS | National climate action plans must include military emissions

04.06.24
COP28 agreed that countries must submit new Nationally Determined Contributions by February 2025. These transparent national plans for climate action play an important role in defining a country’s commitment to tackling the climate crisis but at present military emissions are largely absent from them. As Linsey Cottrell finds, failing to include them this year could delay their inclusion until 2030.

CEOBS | Ticking boxes: are military climate mitigation strategies fit for purpose?

19.02.24
Militaries are increasingly publishing climate mitigation strategies, so we have developed checklists to evaluate them. In this post Linsey Cottrell introduces the checklists, reviews UK and US strategies, and also compares military decarbonisation efforts with those of another large and challenging sector: healthcare.

CEOBS | Does reporting military emissions data really threaten national security?

07.02.24
While a few militaries report their greenhouse gas emissions, others do not, often citing national security concerns. In this post, Linsey Cottrell compares this to commercial confidentiality practice, gives examples of military datasets available in the public domain and questions whether the security implications of military emissions reporting are real or imagined.

Media

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The Guardian | Revealed: repairing Israel’s destruction of Gaza will come at huge climate cost

06.06.24
Nina Lakhani covers the updated analysis of the emissions from 120 days of Israel-Gaza for The Guardian.

The Atlantic | Military Emissions Are Too Big to Keep Ignoring

11.03.24
Zoë Schlanger shines a light on hidden military emissions within the UNFCCC and reports from COP28.

The Guardian | The climate costs of war and militaries can no longer be ignored

09.01.24
CEOBS' Director Doug Weir writes for the Guardian on the hidden climate impact of militaries and war, and what needs to change.

Reports

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QMUL | Confronting military greenhouse gas emissions

24.06.24
This interactive policy brief details the intersecting realities of carbon poullution, militaries, and what this signifies for greenhouse gas emissions, ultimately affecting climate change.  

IGGAW | Climate damage caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine

13.06.24
According to the study, the first 24 months of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine led to an increase in emissions of 175 million tons of carbon dioxide. Applying the Social Cost of Carbon, the report also proposes that total climate damage caused amounts to $32 billion.

National Defence Academy, Austria | Climate. Changes. Security

24.04.24
In this report, national and international experts share their expertise on the connections between climate change and security. CEOBS Environmental Policy Officer Linsey Cottrell co-authors the chapter 'The OSCE and Military Emissions: Next Steps and Mitigation of Greenhouse Gases' with Duraid Jalili and David Burbridge.

Videos

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COP29 | Measuring climate impacts across the cycle of armed conflicts

18.12.24
This event launched a novel methodology for estimating conflict emissions, using examples from Ukraine and Gaza. Speakers included representatives from the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, Initiative on GHG Accounting of War, Queen Mary University of London, and CEOBS.

COP29 | Transparent military emissions reporting and the path to military decarbonisation

18.12.24
Speakers from CEOBS, the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia, Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, DCAF – Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance, and the Climate Change Performance Index explore the topic of military emissions from a range of perspectives.

DW Planet A | The biggest blindspot of climate change

23.02.24
This informative and accessible video from DW explores military emissions as one of the biggest blindspots of climate change, and what we can do to change this.