NATO's contribution to climate change emissions

Posted: 11th July 2024

As NATO marks its 75th anniversary in Washington D.C. at its summit 9-11 July 2024, TNI has worked with many groups on this list to produce and publicise research that shows that its record military expenditure of $1.34 trillion produces millions of tonnes of greenhouse emissions and diverts millions of dollars from climate finance. It builds on and updates numbers from our report last autumn, Climate Crossfire.

The 6 page research briefing, Climate in the Crosshairs, finds that:                

• NATO’s overall military spending of $1.34 trillion in 2023 produces an estimated 233 million metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e).(2) This is more than Colombia or Qatar’s annual GHG emissions.
• NATO’s military spending increase of $126 billion in 2023 will lead to an estimated additional 31 million metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e). This is equivalent to the annual CO2 emissions of around 6.7 million average US cars.
• Meeting the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) goal of 43% reduction in emissions by 2030 compared to 2019 levels would require an annual reduction of military emissions of at least 5%, yet, NATO increased its military emissions by around 15% in 2023 and looks set to continue increasing emissions this decade.
• NATO’s increase of military spending in 2023 would pay for the minimal climate financing demanded by developing countries in UN climate negotiations this year. NATO’s total military spending in 2023 would pay this financing 13 times over and start to provide the levels of climate finance needed to address the climate crisis.

You can download the briefing here: https://www.tni.org/en/publication/climate-in-the-crosshairs and read coverage of the report in the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/09/nato-military-co2-spending-2023-report

Boosts/retweets etc are also welcome on social media which also includes a number of great graphics to back up the report: https://www.tiktok.com/@ideasintomovement/video/7389582057250344224; https://x.com/TNInstitute/status/1810574703804682494 and https://www.instagram.com/p/C9MY3gpsBFa/?img_index=1

For peace and climate justice,

Nick