Military Emissions Hit 5.5% of Global Total, Panel Tells COP 31
COP 31 Side Events • United NationsNovember 14, 2026
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Researchers at a COP 31 side event on Nov. 14, 2026, put peacetime military emissions at an estimated 5.5% of global greenhouse gases. That share sits largely outside United Nations climate accounting. The informational panel, hosted by the Conflict and Environment Observatory with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, took no votes. It instead tied rising military budgets to three problems: missing emissions data, competition for critical minerals and money diverted from climate and social programs.
- 5.5% of global emissions come from militaries in peacetime, by best estimate.
- NATO spending targets of 3.5% and 5% of GDP divert climate and welfare funds, an economist argued.
- Brazilian mining communities resist becoming "sacrifice zones" in a fast-moving critical minerals race.
- Energy-transition metals are flowing into munitions, a researcher said, urging end-use traceability.
The basics: Countries report climate commitments through Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), their national climate plans under the Paris Agreement. "Mt" refers to million metric tons of carbon dioxide.
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