War, military, and climate: Justice is never singular

Can we really achieve sustainable peace without dealing with the question of climate? The intersection of human rights issues and environmentalism is profoundly nuanced, wherein a “catch-all” understanding would fail to recognize the extent to which justice is dissected in discourse. Instead, justice should be understood as complex and intersectional. The idea of climate (or environmental) justice in popular Western media first cropped up after a series of 1982 protests against the disposal of toxic soil in a majority African-American county in North Carolina, wherein both environmentalists and civil rights activists would band together and make way for multiple government studies on the effects of toxic dumping and communities of colour (Schlosberg and Collins, 2014). 

Protesters at 1982 Warren County PCB Landfill Protests (1982). Joseph Kreinberg, Duke University.

The need for a complex understanding of climate justice is particularly relevant when considering the impact of war. As of January 2024, more than 280,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions were attributed to the Israeli invasion of Gaza alone: with the first 60 days of Israel’s ground invasion and aerial bombardment of Palestine being “greater than the annual carbon footprint of more than 20 of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations”.

The military-industrial complex is amongst the most environmentally damaging of all industries. Worldwide it is responsible for 5.5% of global emissions, with the US military taking up three-fourths of global military presence and boasting a carbon footprint “larger than any other institution on Earth”. Military greenhouse gases have always been disregarded in climate agendas vis-a-vis the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, citing possible implications for “national security” to exempt the forces from accountability. However, recently there have been calls for “mandatory military emissions reporting for both war and peacetime through the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change”. The importance of this call highlights the ongoing health, economic and social impacts of the emissions and environmental damage associated with war. 

Child amongst building rubble, Palestine. Photo by Hosny Salah, Pixabay

This is an “emissions gap”, wherein the impacts of military activities (including the armed genocides we see unveiled now) are historically minimized and funding into military complexes pours in steadily without institutional scrutiny. For example, the US invasion of Iraq rerouted a substantial portion of the country’s national budget and emitted at least 141 million metric tonnes of CO2. The volumes of smoke and pollution, and its long-term impact on the lung health of veterans, is still being investigated today.

Calls for climate justice soar when injustices fester. As we near 200 days since the start of Israel’s most recent attacks, conversations within the progressive climate space have been re-ignited. At COP28 (2023) the issue of Israeli-deployed white phosphorus on Palestinian land was highlighted by summit participants, including the Secretary-General of the Red Cross, for its disastrous effects on ancient olive trees and critical water sources. These consequences do not lead to temporary destruction easily rebuilt — rather, they cling to the land and incoming generations as a staunch reminder of violence.

An Old Olive Tree in Kaubar Village(1989). It is amongst many that are being decimated by war and will forever be impacted. Olive production spans centuries of Palestinian tradition and livelihood. The Palestinian Museum Digital Archive.

The intersection of human rights issues and climate action is profoundly nuanced and complex. We need to refuse a “catch-all” understanding of climate justice and find one that – at the very least – embraces intersections between war + climate change + gender + colonisation + class + religion. PENGON (Friends of the Earth Palestine) sees the Palestinian liberation struggle as inextricably linked to advocacy against the fossil fuel industry’s role in ongoing colonisation, especially in reclaiming Indigenous land rights which they see as “part and parcel of the collective struggle for a world where everyone has the right to live with dignity”.

When fighting for the environment, we also need to fight for human rights. Often, in the urgency for change, we fall into the pitfall of singular responsibility but this hides the impact of industries profiting off war and destruction. You can participate in “green living” for all its worth, but it won’t be enough. There will never be climate empowerment or sustainability without refusing systems of violence, and actively campaigning for peace everywhere.

REFERENCES

Birch, M., & van Bergen, L. (2022). COP27 and the military–industrial complex: no more sidestepping the military emissions gap. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 38(4), 261–265. Taylor and Francis Online.

Friends of the Earth International. (2023, December 8). Palestine is a cause of human rights and climate justice. Friends of the Earth International; Friends of the Earth International.

Harb, M. (2023, December 5). At COP28, activists and officials voice concern over Gaza’s war-torn environment. PBS NewsHour; PBS.

Lakhani, N. (2024, January 13). The staggering carbon footprint of Israel’s war in Gaza. Mother Jones;

Mallinder, L. (2023, December 12). “Elephant in the room”: What is the US military’s carbon footprint? Al Jazeera; Al Jazeera.

Mcfarlane, S., & Volvovici, V. (2023, July 11). Insight: World’s war on greenhouse gas emissions has a military blind spot. Reuters; Reuters.

Neimark, B., Bigger, P., Otu-Larbi, F., & Larbi, R. (2024). A Multitemporal Snapshot of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the Israel-Gaza Conflict. SSRN.

Olsen, T., Caruana, D., Cheslack-Postava, K., Szema, A., Thieme, J., Kiss, A., Singh, M., Smith, G., McClain, S., Glotch, T., Esposito, M., Promisloff, R., Ng, D., He, X., Egeblad, M., Kew, R., & Szema, A. (2022). Iraq/Afghanistan war lung injury reflects burn pits exposure. Scientific Reports, 12(1). Taylor and Francis.

Schlosberg, D., & Collins, L. B. (2014). From Environmental to Climate justice: Climate Change and the Discourse of Environmental Justice. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 5(3), 359–374. Wiley.