The hidden climate cost of global militarization

During international climate summits, the rich and powerful countries of the Global North routinely lecture the Global South on climate urgency, imposing strict emission cuts while pledging a greener future.  Yet, they deliberately conceal a devastating truth: their own militaries are actively pushing the planet toward ecological disaster. Shielded by the convenient excuse of "national security," these nations  intentionally hide the catastrophic carbon emissions generated by their war machines and global military  operations. The global military-industrial complex operates as a massive, unregulated polluter, evading  the transparency and accountability demanded of every other sector. True climate justice requires tearing  down this wall of secrecy, forcing global superpowers to publicly disclose their military carbon footprints,  and demanding a radical de-escalation of arms production. We simply cannot save Mother Earth while arming ourselves to destroy it. 

While the world's attention is preoccupied on curbing emissions from civilian transportation, agriculture,  and fossil fuel power plants, the damage caused by the military-industrial complex is either grossly  underestimated or intentionally kept out of the public discussion. Yet, the reality is severe. The twin evils  of "preparing for war" and waging it inflict more damage on our climate than almost any other single  sector. 

Military industries keep expanding worldwide. In 2025, global military expenditure reached an astronomical $2.9 trillion, with nearly half of that coming from the 32 member states of NATO. Worryingly, these industries operate unregulated, evading transparency and accountability as major polluters. As a result, the world’s militaries are responsible for an estimated 5.5 percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions 

The reasons for this massive carbon footprint during peacetime are twofold. First, modern armed forces  are intensely reliant on fossil fuels. Fighter jets, heavy bombers, naval destroyers, and armoured tanks  consume massive amounts of jet fuel and diesel. Added to this is the continuous movement of troops,  equipment, and large-scale military exercises across the globe. Even the maintenance of global military  infrastructure such as cantonments, airbases, radar stations, and training grounds requires uninterrupted  electricity and heating, generating continuous emissions regardless of whether a war is being fought.  Second, the manufacturing of weapons is intrinsically an energy-intensive heavy industry. Producing  fighter planes, warships, and modern ammunitions demands vast quantities of steel, aluminum, titanium,  and cement. The complex global supply chains required to source these raw materials further compound  the carbon footprint. 

The catastrophic environmental toll of war does not end even when the war is over. The post-war  reconstruction phase triggers a secondary, long-term wave of emissions. Rebuilding demolished cities and  localities requires millions of tons of cement, concrete, glass, and steel�"materials whose production  processes are notorious for high carbon dioxide emissions. Furthermore, warfare systematically destroys  nature's own carbon sinks. Forests are incinerated, wetlands are contaminated, and soil degradation  severely limits the earth’s future capacity to absorb carbon.  

Looking ahead, the situation threatens to spiral out of control as we witness a terrifying resurgence of a  global arms race. In 2025, global military expenditure reached an astronomical $2.9 trillion, with nearly  half of that coming from the 32 member states of NATO. Despite this record-breaking expenditure, NATO  has set a dangerously ambitious goal for 2035: pushing its members to elevate their defence spending to  5 percent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Out of this, roughly 3.5 percent is earmarked for core  military operations and up to 1.5 percent for security-related infrastructure. 

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has explained what this scale-up truly means.  If this 5 percent target is universally met, NATO’s annual security expenditure would nearly triple to a  staggering $4.2 trillion. A recent comprehensive study published in Nature Communications confirmed a  strong statistical correlation: as a nation's military spending increases relative to its GDP, the intensity of  its carbon emissions rises proportionally. Researchers project that NATO’s new spending targets will  generate an additional 540 million to 1.25 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases annually by 2035. This is  equivalent to adding another major industrialised nation to the globe’s polluter list. 

It is therefore high time that the international community, particularly forums like the United Nations  Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), pulls military emissions out of the shadows.  Mandatory and transparent reporting of all military-related carbon emissions must be enforced.  Ultimately, there is a simple truth for all to see: unless the major powers severely downsize their military industrial complexes, dropping bombs will become unnecessary; the climate devastation caused by simply  manufacturing these weapons will burn our planet first.