Militarization Is Fueling the Climate Crisis

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Issue Jan 18-24 2023: Although they are responsible for between five and six percent of all carbon emissions, militaries around the world are not held accountable for their major contributions to the climate crisis. 

In Nexos Magazine of Mexico, Maritza Islas Vargas argued that militarization is a driving factor behind the current environmental and climatic emergency and is “a direct route towards the radical, irreversible, and irreparable destruction of the state and the composition of the subsystems of the planet.” The relationship between military activities, oil, and greenhouse gas emissions cannot be ignored. Not only is the U.S. Department of Defense the largest institutional consumer of oil in the world, but 66% of the European Union’s military emissions in 2022 were related to the extraction of fossil fuels. Despite the clear connection between military activities and greenhouse gas emissions, military secrecy makes it difficult to calculate their exact ecological footprint. As a result, armed forces are not subject to climate regulation or environmental surveillance.

Militarization does not just accelerate the climate crisis; it is also a response to it. Vargas emphasized that the result is a perpetual cycle, because as “environmental destruction worsens and the availability of energy and material sources decreases, the military response is strengthened.” In 2021, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) prioritized military preparations for climate change, and both the U.S. government and the European Union are inclined towards large-scale militarization.

Vargas also argued that the use of military logic to combat environmental problems could “justify interventionism in territories with availability of fuels, minerals, water, land, etc.” Moreover, it promotes violence as the only solution and constructs a “warmongering” narrative that has real repercussions, such as increased hostility towards refugees and migrants. Vargas asserted that militaries must be strictly regulated, and their actions must be made transparent. However, in the long term, he added, “We would have to see the disappearance of any repressive body of military character, both for its social and environmental repercussions.”