Academic papers

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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.

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

09.01.24
Research from Benjamin Neimark, Patrick Bigger, Frederick Otu-Larbi and Reuben Larbi reviews the first 60 days of the Israel-Gaza war, as well as a wider look at war infrastructure and the carbon costs of reconstruction.

Science of The Total Environment | Tracking unaccounted greenhouse gas emissions due to the war in Ukraine since 2022

05.01.24
In this paper, the authors analyze how, during the first 18 months of the 2022/2023 full-scale war in Ukraine, GHG national inventory reporting to the UNFCCC was affected. We estimated the decrease of emissions due to a reduction in traditional human activities. They identified major, war-related, emission processes from the territory of Ukraine not covered by current GHG inventory guidelines…

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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 | 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.

CEOBS | “Always money for war”: reflecting on COP28

21.12.23
COP28 was a memorable COP for many reasons; a record-breaking 100,000 attendees, the first ever ‘peace day’, and the landmark establishment of a long awaited loss and damage fund. But yet again, and as with its predecessors, no outcome documents mentioned the contribution that military activities or warfighting makes to the climate crisis. Ellie Kinney reports on what was new.

Media

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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.

Mongabay | Conflict, peace and Palestine make an impression at COP28

05.12.23
Simrin Sirur covers how conflict, peace and Palestine were highlighted at COP28.

Reports

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European Commission | Navigating Climate Change in Defence

11.03.24
This joint guide from the European Commission Joint Research Centre, European Commission Joint Research Centre and European Defence Agency maps out how Cheifs of Defence Staff can incorporate climate change considerations into their planning, including climate action and emissions reductions.

Council of the European Union | Greening the armies

01.01.24
This paper investigates the need to reconcile climate and defence priorities, although it does not address the broader issue of the impact of warfare itself on C02 emissions and the environment. The first part highlights the potential win-win strategies of bringing together climate and defence objectives. In contrast, the second part of the paper emphasises the many challenges associated with…

World Peace Foundation | Resisting Green Militarism: Building Movements for Peace and Eco-Social Justice

11.12.23
In this report, Nico Edwards maps the ongoing militarisation of ecological crises – captured by the umbrella concept of “green militarism” – and its implications for eco-social justice. The paper calls for policymakers, researchers, organisers and members of the public to critically engage with and resist green war and sustainable arms policies.

Videos

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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.

COP28 | Climate Damage of Russia’s war in Ukraine and the knowledge gap on conflict and military emissions

04.12.23
At COP28, speakers from the Conflict and Environment Observatory, Ecoaction, Ukraine, and Initative on the GHG Accounting of War outline the state of military emissions reporting and the environmental and climate imapacts of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as the ambition of a green recovery.

MEG Conference 2023 | Panel 3: Understanding wartime emissions: lessons from Ukraine

27.09.23
Russia’s war in Ukraine has contributed to unprecedented interest in the emissions footprint of armed conflicts, encouraging novel efforts to comprehensively estimate its emissions. Emissions from the war zone, and its impact on emissions elsewhere were estimated for the first 12 months of war. This panel will discuss the initial results, and the numerous challenges in determining impact emissions sources,…