Nov. 5, 2025 - Download PDF Version
The climate crisis and militarism are two of the most urgent threats we face, and they are deeply connected. Militarism fuels environmental destruction and accelerates climate change, and the climate crisis intensifies conflict and violence.
At the root of both crises lies the same pursuit of power and profit. Extractivism and militarism serve the interests of a wealthy few, while the rest of us bear the costs - in lost lives, destabilized communities, and a planet pushed to the brink. We can only achieve safety for the billions of people on this planet if we end the consumption of fossil fuels, and the violent power grabs that enable it.
As a major global polluter and warmonger, the United States has a unique responsibility to stop driving fossil fuel dependence, stop pouring billions into war and weapons, and instead invest in just, livable futures for all.
If you’re reading this, you’re likely well aware that we’re living through a climate emergency - a triple planetary crisis of climate change/global warming, biodiversity loss, and pollution. The human toll is staggering, and it’s growing worse. The single most urgent action we can take to stop this crisis from escalating is to divest from fossil fuels.
The U.S. military is the largest institutional emitter of greenhouse gas emissions on the planet. Its emissions are greater than those of entire nations like Sweden, Denmark, and Portugal.
Militaries around the world - from supplying fuel to military bases, planes, and ships, to making and using weapons, and clearing land - account for nearly 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Wars are fought over oil. From 1973 to 2013, between 25 and 50 percent of wars were connected to oil interests. As recently as 2018, the U.S. spent around $81 billion each year to protect global oil supplies - more than 10% of the U.S. military budget at the time.
For at least twenty years, the U.S. military has predicted militarized “armed lifeboat” responses to climate change, including sealed borders and increased military interventions abroad - much like current Trump administration policy.
The world’s militaries spent $2.7 trillion in 2023 - a record high. The top five spenders - the United States, China, Russia, Germany, and India - accounted for 60% of total global spending.
The United States is consistently the world’s top military spender, with a military budget expected to reach $1 trillion this year. U.S. military spending is equal to that of the next 9 countries, combined, and more than three times that of the next country, China.
From 2014 to 2024, the U.S. contributed $2 billion to the Green Climate Fund, the primary fund for international climate finance. In the same period, U.S. Congress approved at least $79 billion - 40 times more - to help countries buy U.S.-made weapons.
The U.S. climate fair share - what the U.S. owes to the rest of the world for its historical contribution to the climate crisis - is $446 billion per year. In addition to taxes on fossil fuel producers and billionaires, the military budget should be considered as a major potential source of funding to meet this responsibility.
The world’s richest populations are most responsible for causing the climate crisis, which most harms those least responsible. This imbalance deepens global inequality - deepening political instability, militarization and fossil fuel dependency.
The climate crisis is a major driver of migration, with 220 million climate refugees from 2015-2024. Instead of offering solidarity and refuge, state powers respond with border militarization.
While Indigenous people make up about five percent of the world’s population, they account for about a quarter of those murdered for protecting land and the environment.
