The military sector in the European Union emits around 24.8 billion tonnes of CO2 each year, which is equivalent to the emissions of around 14 million “average” cars, according to a study published on Tuesday 23 February by The Lefy group in the European Parliament.
Drafted jointly by the Conflict and Environment Observatory and Scientists for Global Responsibility, the study is based on estimates that use 2019 data from government and industry sources in the six largest EU countries in terms of military spending (France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain), as well as the EU as a whole.
In fact, “there is currently no consolidated public reporting of GHG emissions for the national militaries of the European Union”, note the authors.
They continued: ”Overall, the transparency and accuracy of GHG emissions reporting within the military sectors examined in this study was found to be low, and key deficiencies in the data were identified for all six countries assessed”.
In addition to this lack of precise data, the study notes that no global reduction target includes emissions from the military sector.
“The European Green Deal completely and purposely ignored everything to do with the climate impact of militarisation, arguing that demilitarisation needs to be part of any credible Green Deal”, emphasised The Left, in reaction to the results of the study.
See the study: https://bit.ly/2ZN2DdS (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)