COP29 Is Likely to be a disaster — and these polluting wars will make things even worse
Adding to pessimism about the outcome of the UN’s just-started COP29 climate conference, two ongoing wars are not only taking uncounted lives but are also creating significant emissions that will reduce the world’s ability to reach climate goals.
READ MORE ABOUT MILITARY EMISSIONS
Destroying — and rebuilding — gaza and Ukraine triggers huge Greenhouse Gas crisis
The Smog of war: U.S. Defense Department Is the nation’s Biggest Energy Consumer
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to Google AI tool Gemini, “has produced an estimated 175 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) in emissions. This is equivalent to the annual emissions of the Netherlands, or the combined emissions of five countries on the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) Emergency Watchlist.”
Meanwhile, the emissions in the first two months of the 13-month war in Gaza are estimated to be 281,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide.
The military worldwide is a major polluter, and as spending on weapons continues to rise, the problem will worsen. As Scientific American reported, “A 2022 study by the Conflict and Environment Observatory suggested that militaries could account for around 5.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions — but that could be an underestimate.”
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