Environmental Groups Urging United Nations To Disclose World Military Gas Emission

Environmental groups and scientists are increasing pressure on the United Nations to compel world armies to declare all of their gas emissions and end a long-standing exemption that has allowed some of their climate pollution to go unaccounted for.

Tipping Point North South and The Conflict and Environment Observatory, as well as scholars from the British universities of Lancaster, Oxford, and Queen Mary, are pushing for more comprehensive and transparent military emissions reporting.

In February, the group addressed their concern to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), calling on the climate body to include all military emissions and emphasizing its importance for global carbon accounting.

"Our climate emergency can no longer afford to permit the 'business as usual' omission of military and conflict-related emissions within the UNFCCC process," the groups wrote as reported by Reuters.

World's biggest fuel consumer

In a recent study, international experts claimed that militaries are responsible for 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emission in 2022, making them one of the world's biggest fuel consumers.

However, it is believed that the data is likely to be underestimated due to a lack of adequate reporting. Militaries are not obligated by international climate agreements to report or reduce carbon emissions.

According to the Conflict and Environment Observatory, the carbon footprint of the European Union's military spending in 2019 was around 23 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.

France, which has the highest military budget in the EU, was discovered to contribute around one-third of the overall carbon footprint for the EU's forces, the Euronews.green reported.

Military emissions from flying jets and even sailing ships to training exercises were justified in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and the 2015 Paris Agreement on the grounds of national security concern.

Countries taking actions

The UNFCC said there is no specific plan to change the guidance on military emission accounting; however, the topic could be considered at future conferences, including the COP28 climate summit in the United Arab Emirates on November 30.

According to the National News, the UAE plans to highlight "relief, recovery, and peace" at the summit.

"This is the first of its kind at any COP and its purpose is to highlight the intersection of climate change, peace and security and propose practical solutions to prevent and address the climate burden on stability," said Mariam Al Mheiri, UAE's Minister of Climate Change and Environment.

There are also indications that some militaries are planning to change their reporting requirements, while others are taking steps to reduce their climate impact.

Reuters reported that NATO had developed a process for its 31 member states to disclose their military emissions.

New Zealand is considering whether to include previously prohibited sectors, such as emissions from overseas activities, while Britain and Germany are working to address gray areas in their reporting.

Last year, the United States sent US Army and Navy representatives to the COP27 climate summit in Egypt, the first time a Pentagon delegation attended a global climate event.

"What I think that signified is that we are part of the conversation, we are certainly emitters when it comes to fossil fuels and energy," Meredith Berger, assistant secretary for energy, installations and environment at the U.S. Navy and one of the Pentagon delegates, told Reuters.