by Tim Devereux
Tim is a member of the Leeds Diocese pax Christi group and has recently stood down as chair of MAW (The Movement for the Abolition of War).
It was Bruce Kent who first got me involved in the war/climate breakdown issue. I had been a member of CND and Pax Christi since the 70s, and Bruce recruited me to the Movement for the Abolition of War committee. One of MAW’s campaigns is Climate Change and Military Emissions – we’ve made a DVD about it!
I assume everyone knows the basic mechanism of climate breakdown – if you need a refresher, view Climate Change 101 by the masterly Bill Nye, Science Guy, made in 2015. He explains it in just four minutes!
“The Earth’s temperature it is estimated to have gotten 1.2 to 1.4o Fahrenheit warmer in just the last Century. Ten out of the last thirteen years were the warmest on record.”
In November 2015, a group of MAW members went to Paris for COP21. This was where the historic Paris Agreement on climate change was hammered out. As we stood under the Eiffel Tower, we wanted to make sure our banner was seen by delegates and the public alike.
How does war contributes to climate change?
“The elephant in the kitchen when it comes to Climate Change is clearly the world’s military. The world spends something like 2 trillion US dollars a year on its military. At least half of that vast sum goes on military production with a massive CO2 output. The military are both a major cause of climate change and hence, of the conflicts which result from the movement of peoples as deserts spread.” Bruce Kent
The trouble is, much of this is not reported – US negotiators managed to exclude military greenhouse gas emissions at the 1997 Kyoto climate conference. In Paris 2015, it was agreed that countries no longer have automatic exemption but neither are they obliged to declare military emissions.
As Mark Carney remarked, “What gets measured gets managed” Disclosure is only the first step towards the real goal: reduction of these emissions.
How does climate change cause war?
The example of Syria illustrates this all too forcefully.
“Before the [Syrian Civil] war began, an extraordinary drought caused 75% of Syria’s farms to fail and 85% of livestock to die between 2006 and 2011, according to the United Nations. That drought also triggered a wave of migrants searching for jobs in urban areas, spreading instability throughout the country… The war has killed around half a million people, and displaced around 11 million others. It has utterly destroyed the country’s infrastructure”
Climate breakdown refugees will be a big problem.
“Over the past 10 years, weather-related disasters have caused 220 million internal displacements – approximately 60,000 displacements per day. By 2040, the number of countries facing extreme climate-related hazards is expected to rise from three to 65, the majority of which are hosting displaced populations.”
Get Involved
Check out all the amazing programmes made by David Attenborough
Read George Monbiot
Join MAW
Join Pax Christi
Join the National Justice and Peace Network
Sign up for the Columban newsletter Vocation for Justice
Sometimes, we can’t see the way to our destination and are beset by difficulties, but if we can just keep going, we’ll get there!!