Oil, Arms and Emissions: The Role of the Military in a Changing Climate

Abstract

Western militaries united in NATO are protecting the extraction economy, legitimated by supposedly superior western values. In competition with China, armed forces control natural resources, rare earth minerals and sea lines of communication. Western arms industries sell weapons to support the violent repression of protest against resource extraction and arms control treaties have loopholes to facilitate that human rights are overruled for profit. As many people have no means to adapt to climate change due to unfair distribution of resources and power, refugee numbers are expected to rise in the coming decades. Meanwhile, the arms industry is profiting from border militarization against migrants and refugees. While military infrastructure can be made more energy-efficient, contrary to what the arms industry claims, there is no sustainable transport fuel to substantially reduce military emissions. For a sensible climate policy, military strategies should be changed and non-military ways of addressing conflict should be taken seriously.