Demilitarisation for Decarbonisation & Climate Finance for the GST– & Why It’s a Feminist Issue

Jun 7, 2023 | Environmental Law Institute, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Transnational Institute
Bonn, Germany
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Why is militarisation one of the key obstacles to mitigating the climate crisis? Panelists will make the case for disarmament and demilitarisation in the GST. They will expose links between militarisation and the climate crisis from an intersectional feminist perspective. The impacts of militarisation are a significant but largely ignored contributor to the climate crisis. The military is the largest institutional emitter of greenhouse gases on the planet. As well, from weapons production, testing and trade to military bases, military exercises, war and conflict, military activity depends on excessive amounts of fossil fuels and destroys natural carbon sinks around the world. Ever increasing global military spending correlates with an increase in emissions, and redirects resources away from climate finance. The military is often deployed to sustain the very extractive industries that destabilise our climate. This climate chaos, in turn, leads to massive displacement, militarised borders, and the prospect of further conflict. Militarisation therefore threatens meaningful mitigation and adaptation efforts. The compounding effects of the climate crisis and militarisation disproportionately impact communities in marginalised situations, such as women, Indigenous peoples, people in the so-called Global South, the LGBTIQA+ community, low-income communities, Black People and People of Colour in the so-called Global North.The Global Stocktake therefore must recognise the significant threat that militarisation poses to the implementation of the Paris Agreement, and climate impacts of military activity should be recognised and addressed within the UNFCCC framework. Some panelists will share evidence of their lived experience around militarisation and climate impacts in their communities while others will illuminate global trends and gaps on the topic. They will highlight the need to also consider non-economic factors in loss and damage accounting processes. Together, panelists will provide concrete recommendations for the GST, incorporating intersectional, human-rights based, and feminist analysis.  Panelists will argue that a right-based, intersectional feminist analysis of compounded militarism and climate change impacts is essential to both environmentalists and peace activists who are working towards a sustainable planet free of all forms of violence, injustice and oppression. 

Full side events schedule: https://seors.unfccc.int/applications/seors/reports/events_list.html?session_id=SB%2058