War, what is it good for? Polluting the climate.

May 30, 2024

Israeli troops fire howitzer rounds near the border with Gaza.

Israeli troops fire howitzer rounds near the border with Gaza. Estimates indicate that the first 60 days of the war in Gaza created 281,000 tons of carbon dioxide. | Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images

Violent conflict is raging worldwide — and so is the planet-warming pollution that comes with it.

But the greenhouse gases spewed from armies, aircraft and warships are largely a global mystery.

As I report today, the Paris climate agreement doesn’t require participating nations to report their militaries’ carbon output. Few choose to do so voluntarily. And because military data is often secretive and sparse, it’s difficult for independent researchers to make these estimates on their own.

Some experts argue that needs to change.

Scientists and environmentalists alike have begun to push for stricter reporting requirements for the world’s armed forces — and for the United Nations to count military pollution toward each country’s climate targets.

“Our climate emergency can no longer afford to permit the ‘business as usual’ omission of military and conflict-related emissions,” environmental organizations wrote in a letter to the U.N. last year.

Militaries could account for around 5.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the nonprofit Conflict and Environment Observatory. The U.S. military emits the lion’s share, rivaling the entire annual carbon output of nations like Norway or Sweden.

Meanwhile, conflicts are pouring millions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere.

One recent study suggests that the first 60 days of the war in Gaza created more than 281,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, because of aircraft, tanks, rockets and artillery. And a recent report on Russia’s war in Ukraine estimated that emissions so far, including from reconstruction efforts, have exceeded 150 million metric tons of CO2 — or about three times the annual carbon pollution of New York City.

But those are just rough estimates. Without better data from governments, it’s hard to say exactly how much climate pollution the world’s militaries are contributing.

The Military Emissions Gap project, a United Kingdom-based research partnership, monitors the emissions data that countries voluntarily submit to the U.N. and compares it with independent estimates of their military footprints.

It’s found that many countries — including the U.S. — probably significantly underreport their emissions.

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Two units of Plant Vogtle in Georgia are pictured.

Two units of Plant Vogtle in Georgia are pictured. | Georgia Power

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Touting last month’s completion of a $35 billion nuclear expansion in Georgia, the Biden administration pledged Wednesday to bring more federal support to nuclear megaprojects and the deployment of small-scale reactors.

But nuclear power in the United States has been at a virtual standstill for decades because of escalating costs and lengthy regulatory reviews. The industry has also faced an uphill battle to keep plants operating in competitive electricity markets where natural gas, wind, solar and energy storage are meeting demand.

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