With the Vietnam war at its height, the support of Dr. King and his wife Coretta Scott King for the anti-Vietnam war movement was becoming ever more vocal. It was in this context that he delivered what proved to be his last sermon on 24th December 1967.
We are sharing the video of our BHM event at St. John’s Church Waterloo, in London, where we were honoured to have actors Adjoa Andoh and Paterson Joseph memorably perform Dr. King’s final Christmas Sermon.
Gaza: still under bombardment as we enter the New Year.
Not far off three months on, with no ceasefire in sight, it seems there is no end to the hell being visited upon the children, women and men of Gaza as Israel continues commit war crimes and genocide in its determination to eradicate Hamas. Meantime, on Christmas Day, Israel intensified its raids on the occupied West Bank – Bethlehem included.
As we end this year we join with millions around the world calling CEASEFIRE NOW, including the release of all remaining hostages. Our hearts are heavy with the incomprehensible collective punishment being inflicted on a trapped and innocent civilian population, by a nation armed by the USA administration, UK government and others.
Below are links to the Christmas sermon from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, calling out the West’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza;the latest research from our colleagues at Scientists for Global Responsibility on the intensity of the Gaza bombardment; and a piece on Gaza by our colleague Leila Sansour (Open Bethlehem) for ITV News.
As we end 2023, we wish everyone a peaceful New Year.
To all our grant-givers, major donors and regular givers who have supported our work throughout the year – we say THANK YOU.
This COP28 was the one that finally recognised fossil fuels as the primary culprit in the climate crisis. But it held back from calling for a phase-out, and instead called for a “transition away”. Not enough since the consensus at COP was this: we are headed for 2° Celsius or more of warming by 2100.
On climate finance the Loss and Damage fund was officially made operational, with $700m committed at COP28. The Green Climate Fund (GCF) received a boost to its second replenishment with six countries pledging new funding at COP28 with total pledges now standing at a record USD 12.8 billion from 31 countries, with further contributions expected. Eight donor governments announced new commitments to the Least Developed Countries Fund and Special Climate Change Fund totalling more than USD 174 million to date, while new pledges, totalling nearly USD 188 million so far, were made to the Adaptation Fund at COP28.
But these new climate finance numbers still pale into insignificance when compared to the $13trillion the big fossil fuel reliant militaries will receive between now and 2030 – the year when we must also hit 45% cuts to global annual GHG emissions.
As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine brought attention to this issue at COP27 in Egypt, so Israel’s bombardment of Gaza meant our message was loudly heard at COP28. The excessively funded fossil-fuel-reliant big militaries of the world – and the arms industry that supply them – are now in the climate change frame for all to see. As a result, COP28 saw the climate justice movement begin to include this issue in their broader analysis.
TPNS took its message to civil society, country delegates, UN departments and media. We built on our presence at COP27 as part of an ever growing civil society movement calling for this issue to be centre-stage. We look forward to building on both existing and new connections in our work to get military emissions and spending on the UNFCCC and climate finance agendas respectively.
We are indebted to the following for their support of our COP28 attendance: Jam Today, Movement for the Abolition of War, Quaker UN Office, Perspectives Climate Group.
Meantime, as the holiday season nears, we send you the very best Season’s Greetings and wish everyone a peaceful Christmas.
“It is unacceptable that the promise of 100 billion dollars a year made by the developed countries will not come to fruition while, in 2021 alone, military spending reached 2 trillion and 200 billion dollars.“
“At the same time, it is important to point out that the world’s militaries contribute at least 5.5% of global emissions and reporting is voluntary and mostly lacking. We ask leaders to reduce and re-allocate military spending to reduce emissions and to provide adequate, scaled-up finance as this is a critical enabler of ambitious climate action.”
Mohamed Adow, director of Power Shift Africa, a Nairobi-based climate and energy think-tank.
“The war on Gaza is also affecting how much funding can be diverted to climate initiatives. Adow says wars and conflict are using up much needed climate cash that could have otherwise been very useful to help protect vulnerable communities from climate disaster. He used the example of Ukraine, where he says trillions of dollars were sent at a time that the international community was struggling to mobilize a hundred billion for climate finance.“Demilitarization across the world must be a key component of climate justice,” Adow said.“
Mitzi Jonelle Tan Convenor and international spokesperson of Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines (YACAP), the Fridays For Future (FFF) of the Philippines. Mitzi has long pushed for the climate movement to address militarism. She co-ordinated this action at COP28 before heading over to join our 4 December official side event.
“Don’t tell me that there are no resources. If we took 5 per cent of military expenditures and move them towards a education and to address climate crisis… We would have $100 billion a year to address climate change. So, the message is that you need to start reprioritizing.”
COP28 – OUTCOMES
Below are links to various commentaries on COP28 conclusion.
TAKING MILITARY EMISSIONS & SPENDING INTO THE BLUE ZONE AT COP28 UAE
Dear friends, supporters, colleagues,
As COP28 looms, despite some positive commentary (the recent Biden/XI meeting), the ever-rising sense that COP28 will not deliver the action we so urgently need is everywhere. Whether cuts to emissions, no new oil and a rapid move away from fossil fuels across all sectors, there is still so far to go if we are not to overshoot the 1.5 degrees of warming that will further accelerate runaway climate change.
And critically, governments also need to commit to massively scaling up climate finance to countries in the global south on the ever expanding frontline of climate change. Finance rich countries are legally bound to deliver. Nevertheless, we feel it is right to attend COP28 because of the windows of opportunity to speak at official side events to delegates (UN, governments, media, NGOs) on the still relatively new topic of military emissions, linked to spending and climate finance and Loss and Damage.
And sadly, with this vital COP so close, the climate community is mourning the unexpected death of Professor Saleemul Huq – a driving force at every climate negotiation and the beating heart of the Loss and Damage movement. He was a brilliant, generous man. His support of our work on military emissions and spending was invaluable. His spirit will be felt everywhere the loss and damage cause is debated and our side event on 6th December is dedicated to him.
Below is our COP28 events listing plus news on our latest report & associated webinar. Also some thoughts on how the war on Gaza will impact COP28. All official COP side events inside the Blue Zone are live-streamed on the UNFCCC youtube channel. Continue reading →
Campaigning latest:
Sunday’s MLK event with Adjoa Andoh & Paterson Joseph
This coming Thursday’s film event
Who we are
MLK’s 1967 Christmas Sermon
Dear friends and supporters,
This Sunday we sat in the beautiful St. John’s Church Waterloo and listened to the words of Revd Dr Martin Luther King interpreted beautifully, sensitively and passionately by actors Adjoa Andoh and Paterson Joseph. The sermon was from Christmas Eve 1967, as bombs rained down on Vietnam and Dr. King’s commitment to the anti-Vietnam war movement was at its height.
MLK’s last Christmas sermon can be read here – it reads as if written for today, such is the brilliance of his mind. His writing, his empathy for all humanity and his consummate skill in framing contemporary concerns through the lens of his profound faith are peerless.
Both the performed reading and the brilliant discussion with Adjoa Andoh, Priya Lukka, Dionne Gravesande, Shanon Shah – chaired by Canon Giles Goddard – were filmed and we will be sharing at Christmas time.
Since Tipping Point North South began, with its Film Fund, we have been committed to doing all we can in support of, and in solidarity with, those in the Palestinian struggle to free their homeland from Israel’s 75 years long occupation.
As Gaza endures extreme bombardment from Israel, the 15th largest military spender ($24bn p/a) in the world, in its war declared upon a people not even in control of their water, let alone their nationhood, we are sharing some of the thoughts and actions of some of the friends and colleagues with whom we have worked over the years.
NEW RESEARCH: NATO 2% SPENDING GOAL COULD DIVERT $2.6 TRILLION FROM CLIMATE FINANCE BY 2028
NATO’s goal of 2% spending of GDP on the military will accelerate climate breakdown by diverting millions of dollars from climate finance and increasing greenhouse gas emissions, concludes a new report that urgently calls for a ‘climate dividend’ similar to the ‘peace dividend’ that was won with the end of the Cold War.
The report, Climate Crossfire, produced by Tipping Point North South (UK), together with Transnational Institute (International) and Stop Wapenhandel (Netherlands), estimates the likely financial implications as well as increased greenhouse gas emissions that would result if all NATO members meet their commitment to increase military spending to a minimum of 2% of GDP.
The report finds that:
NATO’s military spending this year – $1.26 trillion- would pay for 12 years of promised climate finance of $100 billion a year.
If all NATO members meet its 2% military spending targets, it would divert an estimated additional US$2.57 trillion by 2028 away from climate spending, enough to pay for climate adaptation costs for all low- and middle-income countries for seven years.
NATO’s estimated military carbon footprint this year – 205 million tCO2e – is comparable to the total annual greenhouse gas emissions of many countries. If NATO’s militaries were a country, it would rank 40th in the world in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.
If all NATO members meet its 2% military spending targets, this would lead to an estimated additional 467 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.
NATO members export arms to 39 of the 40 most climate-vulnerable countries, fuelling conflict and repression at a dangerous moment of climate breakdown.
Join us for two special Black History Month events at
St. John’s Church Waterloo
We are delighted to be a part of the Black History Month Exploring Spirit programme at the stunning, newly renovated St. John’s Church in Waterloo.
We have two MLK focussed events and both events are free but booking is essential. The first event is MLK’s final Christmas Sermon, 1967. It’s relevance to the climate emergency, with war as a metaphor for climate chaos, is explored in our latest blog.
TPNS’S TRANSFORM DEFENCE project continues to take its messages to various fora as it draws the ever clearer connection between rising military spending and greater military emissions. At the same time, it makes the case that military spending is a legitimate source to tap for climate finance for vulnerable countries along with loss and damage.
THE BIG WEEKEND/XR PEACE
We were delighted to be invited by the Movement for the Abolition of War to take part at XR Peace’s programme for the Big Weekend in April, where our presentation made in front of the MOD building revealed the scale of the impact of military emissions on climate change; action at UNFCCC and COP and why present day foreign and defence policy- making is not fit for purpose in this era of climate chaos.
The side event built on our submission to the Global Stocktake (GST) addressing military emissions reporting to the GST and co-signed by Conflict and Environment Observatory, Concrete Impacts, Costs of War Project, Norwegian People’s Aid, Scientists for Global Responsibility, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Zoï Environment Network. A poster was produced for the GST TD poster session to accompany this submission.
Productive meetings were held with IPCC and UNFCCC officials as well as a number of country and NGO delegates. The Quaker UN Office published their overview on Fair Finance for Loss & Damage and cited TPNS’ 5% formula as potentially part of the funding solution.
UPCOMING: 26 SEPT MILITARY EMISSIONS ACADEMIC CONFERENCE, OXFORD
Along with our June 2022 Report calls for an IPCC Special Report on the role of the military in climate change and inclusion of military emissions full reporting to the Global Stocktake, we called for an academic conference that could begin to draw existing and new research together which could advance our IPCC call.
We are delighted that a number of academic institutions have come together to deliver the first such event at the King’s Centre in Oxford. Our colleague Axel Michaelowa from Perspectives Climate Group will make his presentation on a panel alongside Prof Neta Crawford, Oxford University, and Dr Stuart Parkinson, Scientists for Global Responsibility
This conference is being predominantly funded by UKRI-ESRC Concrete Impacts and is jointly organised by Concrete Impacts, Conflict and Environment Observatory, Initiative on GHG Accounting of War, Scientists for Global Responsibility, University of Oxford, Department of Politics and International Relations, QMUL, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences.
NEW PUBLICATIONS
We are delighted to be included in the inaugural volume
of Degrowth Journalorganised as a free, open-access, international, trans-disciplinary, and peer-reviewed journal that focuses on advancing the goals of degrowth. Our paper wanted to draw largely unaddressed connections between degrowth and the global military.
In October we shall be publishing the second collaborative report with Transnational Institute and Stop Wappenhandel (Netherlands) on the topic of climate collateral, military spending and emissions.
It will be released in advance of our attendance at COP28 and will be shared in our October pre-COP newsletter along with our finalised COP plans.
HIGHLIGHTS – MEDIA DIGEST
Our work and the work of colleagues on military emissions and spending is securing ever more media coverage. From BBC World Service to Al Jazeera, Reuters to China Global TV Network, the TV, radio and print highlights are here.
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EVENTS – SAVE THE DATES
October 22 & 26 – BHM and MLK’s legacy at St John’s Church Waterloo
We are pulling together a mini-programme of events to mark Black History Month and which will be a part of the BHM Exploring Spirit programme at the stunning, newly renovated St. John’s Church in Waterloo. We are delighted to be bringing two MLK focussed events with contributions from actors Adjoa Andoh (Richard II, Bridgerton – and founding TPNS board member), Paterson Joseph (Othello, Julius Caesar, The Beach, Peep Show) and Professor Robert Beckford – prolific author, broadcaster and film-maker.
We are finalising the programme and will send out booking details in the coming week or two.
Palestine: The Nakba marks 75 years
The call to Make Apartheid History is more resonant than ever as we mark the 75th anniversary of the start of the NAKBA – the Palestinian Catastrophe – as the state of Israel was founded, along with the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homeland in 1948. MAH shared its short videos in solidarity with NAKBA 75 and BDS including BSC calls for both a cultural boycott and military boycott of Israel until it complies with international law.
October 27 Palfest literary event at the Royal Geographical Society, 7.30pm
Our own MAH supporter Juliet Stephenson joins some of the biggest names of stage and page to mark 75 Years of ongoing Nakba and steadfast resistance – a night of performance, poetry, music and reflection that will journey through a century of struggle, colonization and insistence on life. Admired actors will bring to life words from the past, beloved authors will reflect on the present – all to a live improvised score.
Rashid Khalidi — Julie Christie — Harriet Walter — Abdulrazak Gurnah — Juliet Stevenson — Esther Freud — Isabel Adomakoh Young — Andrew O’Hagan — David Morrissey — Sabrina Mahfouz — Khalid Abdalla — Mohammed Hanif — Tamim Barghouti!
Along with our June 2022 Report calls for an IPCC Special Report on the role of the military in climate change and inclusion of military emissions full reporting to the Global Stocktake, we called for an academic conference that could begin to draw existing and new research together which could advance our IPCC call.
We are delighted that a number of academic institutions have come together to deliver the first such event at the King’s Centre in Oxford. Our colleague Axel Michaelowa from Perspectives Climate Group will make his presentation on a panel alongside Prof Neta Crawford and Dr Stuart Parkinson, Scientists for Global Responsibility. Continue reading →
We are delighted to be included in the inaugural volume of Degrowth Journal organised asa free, open-access, international, trans-disciplinary, and peer-reviewed journal that focuses on advancing the goals of degrowth. Our article wanted to draw largely unaddressed connections between degrowth and the global military. Continue reading →
Our session was entitled ‘Closing the Global Stocktake’s military emissions gap’. Deborah Burton’s contribution focussed on the positive correlation between military spending and military emissions. The room was fairly full and excellent feedback received after the event – mainly ‘we didn’t know this issue was so big and so off radar’. Many follow-up conversations took place during the remainder of the conference addressing both emissions and military spending
The side event built on our submission to the Global Stocktake, signed by Conflict and Environment Observatory, Concrete Impacts, Costs of War Project, Norwegian People’s Aid, Scientists for Global Responsibility, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Zoï Environment Network, and Tipping Point North South. A poster was produced for the GST TD poster session to accompany this submission. Continue reading →
The call to Make Apartheid History is more resonant than ever as we mark the 75th anniversary of the start of the NAKBA – the Palestinian Catastrophe – as the state of Israel was founded, along with the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homeland.
On 15 May MAH shared its short videos in solidarity with NAKBA 75 and BDS including BSC calls for both a cultural boycott and military boycott of Israel until it complies with international law.
NAKBA 75: DISMANTLE ISRAEL’S APARTHEID SYSTEM
Why Make Apartheid History. A short explanatory video with Leila Sansour, Reem Talhami, Iman Aoun, Sliman Mansour, Atef Abu Saif, Issam Aruri, Adjoa Adoh, Juliet Stephenson, Ken Loach, Dave Randall, and our beloved Jeremy Hardy.
Friday 21st April was an amazing day of XR organised activity. Day one of four days was dedicated to pickets of every major government department.
Under the banner Unite to Survive more than 200 organisations came together to form a ‘movement of movements’. The demand was for elected representatives do all and everything necessary to act now on the climate emergency, affecting across so many inter-connected issues at home and globally.
TPNS was invited to make a presentation (hyperlink) at the XR peace picket outside the Ministry of Defence. A large crowd gathered on the lawn in front of the MOD building to hear about the scale of the impact of military emissions on climate change; action at UNFCCC and COP; the link between military spending and emissions; and why present day foreign and defence policy- making is not fit for purpose in this era of climate chaos.
It hardly seems possible but it is 20 years since the world mobilised to speak out and tell their governments ‘Not in Our Name’ – no invasion of Iraq. Marches took place on every continent, including Antarctica.
Did it stop the war? No. Were the arguments made by those against the invasion proven right? Yes. Deborah Burton and Ho-Chih Lin have co-written a blog with Amir Amirani, director of We Are Many to mark this 20th anniversary. One of the core messages of the film – foreign and defence policy-making built upon lies and misinformation can only lead to long term often catastrophic consequences – now remains at the heart of our Transform Defence project.
Reflecting on 20 years since the global anti-Iraq war marches and the invasion that followed
In the nine years of the Iraq War, according to the Costs of Wars Project, around 300,000 people (including civilians) were killed directly and many more killed indirectly. The invasion of Iraq by the United States-led coalition was estimated to have released around 250 million tCO2e. Despite this enormous climate impact, there is a shocking lack of transparency and accountability to the UNFCCC for this particular sector. Ever rising military budgets fund the big GHG emitting hardware. The richest countries are spending 30 times as much on their armed forces as they spend on providing climate finance for the world’s most vulnerable countries
TALK: Military Emissions, Military Spending and Climate Change, Drexel University USA
Post COP27 Deborah was invited to give a webinar as part of a series for Drexel University’s Green Infrastructure, Climate and Cities programme followed by a panel discussion with Prof Franco Montalto and Kristy Kelly PhD, a specialist in gender and development.
Watch the talk here.
Also delighted to have joined CODEPINK in the USA for a webinar on unpacking COP27 – the highs and the lows; what was achieved for the issue of military emissions and spending; and what we might expect from COP28 in Dubai.
FILM: MLK Global
MLK Day 16 January: To mark MLK Day our MLK Global team – Yolande Cadore in NYC, Dionne Gravesande and Deborah Burton – wrote this piece.
March 29th: We look forward to returning to Union Chapel in Islington, north London, for another screening of the outstanding film: From Montgomery to Memphis. Check Union Chapel website for more information nearer the date.
UN SUBMISSION: Missing Military Emissions
The Global Stocktake is a new UNFCCC process to gather information on GHG emissions with the results to be presented at COP28 this year in Dubai. The stocktake enables the assessment of global collective progress on mitigation, adaptation, means of implementation and support.
Critically, the process needs information about what is not being ‘counted’ and unreported military emissions are just that. We are working to get military emissions on the Global Stocktake and with seven other research and advocacy groups (Europe & USA) we have just made a joint submission based on the recommendations of our June 2022 report on military emissions reporting to the UNFCCC.
The Global Stocktake is a new UNFCCC process to gather information on GHG emissions. With seven other research and advocacy groups (Europe & USA), TPNS has made a joint submission for military emissions.
Reflecting on twenty years since the historic global anti-Iraq war marches.
Amir Amirani, director of We Are Many , Deborah Burton & Ho-Chih Lin
This 15 February 2023 marks the 20th anniversary of the unprecedented global anti-war protest against the US-led coalition invasion of Iraq. The story of this amazing day was retold in Amir Amirani’s highly acclaimed cinema documentary ‘We Are Many’ released in 2015 and a film for which Tipping Point North South was proud to have been an early funder through its Film Fund. We Are Many was an important film in many ways, not least in how it made clear the disastrous (and deceitful) USA and UK foreign policy decisions that have led to more than two decades of conflict in the region. And the film also makes clear how the war in Iraq was founded upon a lie – the lie that the US political class told their citizens: that Saddam Hussein was implicated in 9/11. He was not. As British journalist Peter Oborne says in the film, it was clear that those calling for no war in the UK (the peace movement and others) knew more than the foreign office and civil service, since those anti-war voices were utterly vindicated as the war took its toll.
Summary:
In the nine years of the Iraq War, according to the Costs of Wars Project, around 300,000 people (including civilians) were killed directly and many more killed indirectly.
The invasion of Iraq by the United States-led coalition was estimated to have released around 250 million tCO2e.
At COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh it was revealed how significant military emissions in peacetime and war were, estimated to be 5% of global GHG emissions.
Despite this enormous climate impact, there is a shocking lack of transparency and accountability to the UNFCCC for this particular sector.
Ever rising military budgets fund the big GHG emitting hardware. The richest countries are spending 30 times as much on their armed forces as they spend on providing climate finance for the world’s most vulnerable countries.
IRAQ: THE CLIMATE IMPACTS OF WAR
The terrible and enormous human, economic and societal costs of the Iraq war and the conflicts that followed have combined to leave a scar on our global collective conscience. Yet those lessons have not been learned.
The global War on Terror is still ongoing, albeit to a much lesser degree since the end of the conflicts in both Afghanistan and Iraq and, as of February 2022, we saw the invasion of another sovereign country by a military superpower, namely the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Once again, the media has been broadcasting images and footage of the catastrophic toll on innocent children, women and men.
And the coverage of Ukraine has also been revealing something else – the toll on the environment, on our climate and in a way the Iraq war never did.
In the nine years of the Iraq War, according to the Costs of Wars Project, around 300,000 people (including civilians) were killed directly and many more killed indirectly. If all the wars in the US-led global War on Terror were considered, the total direct casualties would be estimated to be nearly 1 million and total US war spending between 2001 -2022, $8 trillion.
But there was one ‘cost’ that had neglected and it was the climate cost because military greenhouse gas emissions in war – at that time – was generally absent from both media coverage and climate policy-making.
The invasion of Iraq by the United States-led coalition was estimated to have released around 250 million tCO2e. Professor Neta Crawford estimates accumulated emissions of the USA military at 1.3 billion metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent for the war-intensive period 2001-2018, with war-related activities in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Syria responsible for 440 million tCO2e between 2001 and 2018.
The destruction during wars of natural or man-made carbon stocks such as forests, energy infrastructure and oil wells can also reach hundreds of millions tCO2e. The burning and reconstruction of cities during and after a country-wide conflict can readily release emissions on a similar scale.
And for Iraq you could read Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya, Syria, Palestine, Ukraine. The list is endless. We have no idea of the cumulative GHG emissions impact of these 21st century wars, let alone what went before in the wars of the 20th century.
UKRAINE: CLIMATE IMPACT OF WAR NOW ON THE AGENDA
Fast forward to 2022 and COP27 Sharm El-Sheikh where an official Blue Zone side event entitled ‘Dealing with military and conflict-related emissions under the UNFCCC’ was hosted by the Ukraine government and CAFOD, making a welcome change on this otherwise hidden issue.
The event had been the result of conversations developed as a result of Tipping Point North South’s June 2022 report by Axel Michaelowa et al., ‘Military and Conflict-Related Emissions: Kyoto to Glasgow and Beyond’ and presented at the COP27 event alongside a groundbreaking report by the Ukraine government ‘Climate damage caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine’. In producing the first country accounting of GHG emissions in conflict, the Ukraine report inevitably showed how much information is missing from other conflicts, past and present. It also highlighted another truth: there has not been anywhere near the same level of military emissions detail on Iraq or Syria or other conflicts. The Ukraine report also proved that if governments want to, and vitally, have the capacity to calculate emissions from war, it can be done.
At Sharm El-Sheikh it revealed just how significant military emissions are in peacetime and war. Along with the supply chain – the makers of the jets, warships, missiles, bombs and bullets – and based on partial and patchy data (because reporting is voluntary) it’s estimated at 5.5% of global GHG emissions. Some 2,750 tCO2e estimated for the carbon footprint of the world’s militaries and associated military technology industry makes it comparable to the combined emissions of civilian aviation (2%) and civilian shipping (3%) sectors.
Notably, this figure does not yet include conflict-related sources, including emissions from infrastructure or landscape fires, the degradation of carbon sinks, post-conflict reconstruction and healthcare for victims. Yet given this enormous climate impact, there is a shocking lack of transparency and accountability for this particular sector.
Just the first seven months of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been estimated to be responsible for at least 100 million tCO2e. For comparison, Ukraine’s total CO2 emissions in 2021 (prior to the invasion in 2022) was 185 million tonnes. Conflict-related emissions are substantial, even before we take account of the human suffering and the long-term environmental degradation and pollution.
INDIVISIBLE: MILITARY EMISSIONS AND MILITARY SPENDING
And the other side of the coin is this: ever rising military budgets fund the big GHG emitting hardware. Tipping Point North South took a second report to COP27 – ‘Climate Collateral: How military spending is accelerating climate breakdown’ where we joined with the Transnational Institute and Stop Wappenhandel (Netherlands) to connect the dots between military emissions, military spending and climate finance and revealed that the richest countries (categorised as Annex II in the UN climate talks) are spending 30 times as much on their armed forces as they spend on providing climate finance for the world’s most vulnerable countries, which they are legally bound to do. And just one year’s military spending by the top 10 military spenders would pay for promised international climate finance for 15 years (at $100bn a year).
The possibility of keeping global temperature change below 1.5°C is rapidly receding, with global heating on track for the calamitous 3°C. At this late stage, every single effort to reduce emissions matters and this is especially true when it relates to such a major sectoral emitter, and a source – conflicts – whose emissions dynamics have historically been ignored.
To reduce military emissions we have to start by reducing excessive military spending – there is no way round it. Simply put, fossil fuels are the lifeblood of modern militaries, more military spending directly leads to more military emissions. The War on Terror, especially the Iraq War, kick-started the dramatic decades-long growth in military spending, with the United States spending more than the next top 10 military spenders combined. Where the US leads, the rest follow – global military spending is now more than $2 trillion a year, much more than what we spent during the Cold War.
Meantime, Loss and Damage needs major funding commitment and climate finance for developing countries needs to have the $100bn annual commitment made real not least for the peoples of the many post 9/11 conflicts so hard hit by 20 years of conflict, and who themselves now live with the terrible impacts of climate change.
The big military spending nations are not only up to their eyes in that post 9/11 catastrophe, their militaries also contributed to climate change itself as a result of their military activities there. We need look no further for Loss and Damage funding than inside the insane levels of spending on weaponry, all useless in the face of the greatest threat to our collective safety: climate chaos.
Amir Amirani, Producer/Director, We Are Many
Deborah Burton, Tipping Point North South, and Executive Producer, We Are Many
Dr. Ho-Chih Lin, Transform Defence Project, and Associate Producer, We Are Many
MILITARY EMISSIONS & SPENDING SUCCESSFULLY MOVED UP THE AGENDA
Like thousands of others at Sharm El-Sheikh we too applauded the victory of those who finally managed to get Loss and Damage across the line. After years of digging in their heels, rich countries were finally shamed into creating a fund for Loss and Damage finance, realising they could no longer kick the L&D ‘can’ down road. But in so many other ways, Egypt’s COP was an abject failure. As one UN official said, COP is ‘at a crossroads’. As others have described it, it has become ‘a bloated travelling circus’. Attending for the first time, it was clear to see: the trade show element is unnecessary with big country pavilions, private sector stands, fossil fuel lobby presence. COP needs paring right back and replaced with a meaningful global civil society presence.
On our topic, some good news. COP27 proved to be really productive for Tipping Point North South (TPNS), with a major side event on emissions as well as a publication launch on military spending, Climate Collateral. Our Transform Defence twitter account has comprehensive coverage of COP27-related military emissions and spending; here is Deb’s side event presentation and all media coverage is here. The side event ended up being a major story for Guardian, Bloomberg and AFP, leading to 450 downloads of our Perspectives/TPNS June military emissions report during COP itself, bringing a total of 1240 downloads since publication. Continue reading →
As the world’s climate negotiators gather in Egypt for the 27th annual climate talks, a new report reveals that military spending is deepening the climate crisis by increasing emissions, diverting money and fuelling conflict in the most climate-vulnerable countries.
The report,Climate Collateral, produced by the international research organisation, Transnational Institute, together with Stop Wapenhandel (Netherlands) and Tipping Point North South (UK) examines the impact of rising global military spending on the climate crisis. It finds that:
The richest nations (known as ‘Annex 2’ countries in UN climate negotiations) are spending 30 times as much on military as on climate finance
The increase in military spending has led to rises in military greenhouse gas emissions, calculated to currently make up 5.5% of total greenhouse gas emissions.
Rather than providing climate finance, Annex 2 countries are selling arms to 40 of the most climate-vulnerable nations fuelling conflict and instability as the climate crisis deepens
It is an attempt to offer up a framework that tries to envision how we get a much better deal for the world’s citizens from the abject failure of past and current foreign and defence policies that sees us stagger from one war to the next; the world carved up according to spheres of influence; stupid narrow mindsets prevailing over catastrophic climate change and more than 6 million dead due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is an attempt to think through the ‘how, what and why’ of a difficult conversation – the move from 19th and 20th century framing of foreign and defence policy such that it really is fit for purpose in a 21st and 22nd century climate changed world, all the time fully recognising that every person, community, society, nation, region needs protection from aggressors and terrorists and it is the job of government to defend its citizens from such threats.
Mitzi has long pushed for the climate movement to address militarism. She co-ordinated this action at COP28 before heading over to join our 4 December official side event.
We are pulling together a mini-programme of events to mark Black History Month and which will be a part of the BHM Exploring Spirit programme at the stunning, newly renovated St. John’s Church in Waterloo. We are delighted to be bringing two MLK focussed events with contributions from actors Adjoa Andoh (Richard II, Bridgerton – and founding TPNS board member), Paterson Joseph (Othello, Julius Caesar, The Beach, Peep Show) and Professor Robert Beckford – prolific author, broadcaster and film-maker.
Tipping Point North South 