Earth Democracy Calls for Report of Military Carbon Emissions

By Nancy Price
Earth Democracy Issue Committee Co-Chair

June 2022

At the WILPF International Congress (July 16-24), the Earth Democracy Issue Committee’s panel titled “Fighting the Militarism of Extinction and Annihilation – A Feminist Perspective,” highlights the military’s carbon boot print and proposes that at the UN Climate Summit COP 27, all military carbon emissions must be annually reported. Read more here.

The goal of this panel is to engage with International’s Environmental Working Group, and for members and Sections to develop a formal CALL for the inclusion of all military emissions as part of both a country’s annual United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) report and each country’s Nationally Determined Contribution.

Of course, the U.S. Department of Defense and some other countries will strongly oppose this requirement, yet global militaries are responsible for 6% of the world’s annual GHG emissions and the U.S. military is the world’s largest institutional emitter of CO2.

In her presentation, Cindy will provide a feminist perspective of the U.S. government’s pretense of providing climate change leadership, while prioritizing its militarization and war preparedness to such an extent as to undermine the United States’ and the global community’s ability to achieve the UN climate goal of limiting the planet’s warming to less than a 1.5C or 2.7F rise by 2100, to stave off the most severe climate disruptions and impacts on people and the planet.

As expected, after pressure from the United States, the reporting of military emissions was excluded from the Kyoto Protocol, adopted on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. In 2015, the Paris Agreement made military emissions reporting voluntary, so today, no governments are obliged to report their military emissions.

To close this alarming loophole, our panel will consist of a twenty-minute PowerPoint presented by Cindy Piester, a member of our Earth Democracy Coordinating Committee, followed by a seventy-minute panel discussion with members of Sections, including time for Questions and Answers.

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Making Connections: Environment, Social Justice and Demilitarisation for Feminist Peace

A week of collective decision-making and discussion for a future of feminist peace

WHEN? July, 16 - 24 2022 This year’s agenda consists of formal decision-making meetings on the weekends (16-17 July and 23-24 July), and workshops, networking, and debate sessions during weekdays (18-22 July).

WHERE? Online via Canapii – There will be a special orientation to Canapii for early registrants in June. We will show a quick video tour of the Canapii platform given by our Congress Event Coordinator, Valerie, and Congress delegates will be invited to attend a number of orientation sessions in June.

Interested in attending Congress?  Then secure your ticket now!  Registration is $15, or more to support other WILPFers’ attendance.