A new article from Prothom Alo English argues that military emissions are a blind spot in global climate accounting. The piece notes that the Paris Agreement does not require countries to disclose emissions from weapons production, military operations, or war. Estimates put the military sector at 5.5 percent of global emissions, but reporting is voluntary and often incomplete. The article points out that major military spenders like the US, China, and Russia do not fully report their carbon footprints, and some data is clearly inconsistent, such as Russia reporting lower emissions in 2022 than in 2020 despite its invasion of Ukraine. The article calls for mandatory disclosure of military emissions under the UNFCCC. It also highlights the concept of a 'carbon bootprint' from war, including secondary emissions from reconstruction, refugee camps, and damaged energy infrastructure. For carbon market participants, this raises questions about how to account for emissions that are currently excluded from national inventories and NDCs. The piece is a concrete look at a gap in climate governance that affects the integrity of global emissions targets.
