Parting the Fog of War: Assessing Military Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Below

29 Pages Posted: 29 Mar 2024

See all articles by Reuben Larbi

Reuben Larbi

Lancaster University

Kali Rubaii

Purdue University

Benjamin Neimark

Queen Mary University of London

Kirsti Ashworth

Lancaster University

Abstract

The world’s militaries account for up to 5.5% of total global greenhouse emissions, yet there is still no requirement for governments to report these emissions in international climate agreements. Researchers are therefore left on their own to assess military emissions. This, however, may seem like an incredibly daunting task. The lack of data is even more stark during periods of conflict, where reporting is relatively non-existent. This article sets out a framework for examining greenhouse gas emissions from military supply chains including situations where emissions data are difficult to acquire due to supply chain complexity, or when data are purposefully held back under the guise of national security.  We provide an empirical study of supply chain-based carbon from the US military’s use of concrete during the Second Iraq War (2003-08) to demonstrate its practicability. Concrete has a massive carbon footprint, and the US military uses a lot of it for protective walls, checkpoints, bases and bunkers. This work demonstrates a way forward for researchers, activists, and policy makers to compute the carbon embodied in military supply chains reinforcing recent calls from academic and civil society organisations for standardised frameworks.

Keywords: Military Emissions, Greenhouse Gasses, climate change, War, Life Cycle Assessment

Suggested Citation

Larbi, Reuben and Rubaii, Kali and Neimark, Benjamin and Ashworth, Kirsti, Parting the Fog of War: Assessing Military Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Below. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4777302 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4777302

Reuben Larbi

Lancaster University ( email )

Lancaster LA1 4YX
United Kingdom

Kali Rubaii

Purdue University ( email )

610 Purdue Mall
West Lafayette, IN 47907
United States

Benjamin Neimark (Contact Author)

Queen Mary University of London ( email )

Kirsti Ashworth

Lancaster University ( email )

Lancaster LA1 4YX
United Kingdom

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
56
Abstract Views
216
Rank
743,828
PlumX Metrics