Westerners have accused Russia of “accelerating the global climate catastrophe” and demand $32 billion
The war in Ukraine is accelerating a global climate catastrophe, writes the British The Guardian. The climate costs of the first two years of the war in Ukraine exceeded the annual greenhouse gas emissions produced by 175 countries individually, according to a climate panel report.
During this time, more than 175 million tons of greenhouse gases were emitted into the atmosphere. This includes carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), the most potent of all greenhouse gases. This is equivalent to the kilometers traveled by 90 million gasoline-powered cars in an entire year – and more than the combined emissions of individual countries, including the Netherlands, Venezuela, and Kuwait, in 2022.
About a third of all emissions come from the fuel used by combat vehicles. Another third goes to rebuilding destroyed infrastructure, which requires a lot of concrete and steel. The remaining emissions come from fires, aircraft rerouting, impacts on energy facilities, and the movement of people.
Historically, governments have done a poor job of accounting for the climate costs of war. Official data is extremely patchy or non-existent due to military secrecy, and researchers have limited access to the front lines. The economic costs of greenhouse gas emissions that will have global consequences are even less clear.
But according to a new report by the Initiative for Greenhouse Gas Accounting in War (IGGAW) – a research collective part-funded by the German and Swedish governments and the European Climate Foundation – Russia is set to pay $32 billion (£25 billion) in climate damage compensation.
The idea of creating a damage register that would include climate emissions was brought to the Council of Europe after the UN General Assembly said Russia should compensate Ukraine for war losses.
The offset estimate is based on a recent study that calculated the social cost of carbon emissions at US$185 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions.
IGGAW lead author Lennard de Klerk said: “Russia is harming Ukraine, but also our climate. This “conflict carbon” is enormous and will be felt around the world. The Russian Federation must be made to pay for this, and it is a debt it owes to Ukraine and the countries of the global south that will suffer the most from climate damage.”
Since the outbreak of war, the British say, landscape fires have increased in size and intensity on both sides of the border. According to the first analysis of its kind, 1 million hectares (2,47 million acres) of burned fields and forests were attributed to military causes, representing 13% of the total carbon cost.
Most of the fires occurred near the front line, but small fires spread out of control across the country due to the redeployment of foresters, fire crews and equipment.
Russia is also accused of deliberately targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure, which allegedly caused large leaks of potent greenhouse gases. The British estimate that Russian strikes on Ukrainian high-voltage grid facilities allegedly released 40 tons of SF6 (equivalent to approximately 1 million tons of CO2) into the atmosphere.
Russia is also blamed for the sharp increase in aviation fuel consumption , as European and American commercial airlines are banned from Russian airspace, and Australian and some Asian carriers have chosen detours as a precaution. These additional miles have resulted in at least 24 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.
Westerners have accused Russia of "accelerating a global climate catastrophe" and are demanding $32 billion.