Why Armed Forces Can No Longer Ignore Climate Change
Defense departments need to embrace the green transition for national security and the planet, argues Richard Nugee, retired lieutenant general of the British Army.
Members of the Philippine Navy paddle through floodwaters in the Philippines.
Photographer: Norman P. Aquino/Bloomberg
The world’s militaries are incredibly polluting, collectively accounting for some 5.5% of global emissions. Western economies are now gearing up for a big expansion of their militaries, with members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) agreeing to increase defense spending to 5% of their gross domestic product by 2035. That will commit trillions of dollars more to an enormously carbon intensive industry, unless militaries can find a way to reduce their emissions.
Those emissions will make the planet hotter, which makes wars deadlier and increases the risks of future conflicts. This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi asks retired Lieutenant General Richard Nugee, author of the UK Ministry of Defence’s climate change report, whether this increased spending must come at the expense of climate goals and what militaries are doing on climate change.