MILITARY EMISSIONS. CLASSIFIED. HIDDEN. UNREPORTED.

RESEARCH

▼

The War On Climate's research reveals a major blind spot in the fight against climate change: the environmental toll of military activities and conflict. Military operations, more than just warfighting, are a significant, yet systematically ignored, source of global greenhouse gas emissions, environmental destruction, and resource exhaustion. Our study sheds light on how these impacts are consistently, knowingly and deliberately underreported under international climate agreements. By examining the three phases of conflict — pre-, during, and post-conflict — it shows how war fuels climate breakdown and derails global sustainability efforts.

The aim of this research is to allow informed advocacy for greater transparency, accountability, and smarter policy. It incentivises the need for the reporting inclusion of military emissions under climate treaties, discussing a reallocation of military budgets toward climate action, and the integration of environmental concerns into peacebuilding, conflict resolution and post-conflict recovery. At its core, this study sounds the alarm on a destructive cycle in which war drives climate change, and climate change breeds more conflict. Breaking that cycle isn't just urgent, it's essential for protecting ecosystems, safeguarding vulnerable communities, and securing the future.

Peace, now more than ever, is a climate imperative.

A stylized Earth logo with a black and green color scheme, featuring a lightning bolt inside the continent outlines and surrounded by a green starburst pattern.

92 nations—nearly half the world—fought wars in 2024.

MILITARY OPERATIONS DRIVE UP EMISSIONS, DESTROY ECOSYSTEMS, AND FUEL A CLIMATE CRISIS THAT, IN TURN, FEEDS MORE CONFLICT.

READ THE EVIDENCE ▼

Download the reports now to review the evidence on military emissions and their impact on climate change.

Cover of a report titled 'The Climate Impacts of Conflict' with bold yellow text and an image of smoke rising from buildings, divided by a black and gray background with yellow geometric shapes and the logo of 'The War on Climate' in the top right corner.

DOWNLOAD
ENGLISH REPORT