First Two Years of Russia’s War on Ukraine Increased Climate Pollution by 175 Million Tonnes, Report Finds

In addition to the devastating death toll and widespread destruction of Russia’s war on Ukraine, the ongoing conflict has brought extensive climate damage to the planet.

New research reveals that the first 24 months of the Ukraine war had a climate cost greater than the annual greenhouse gas emissions of 175 individual countries, adding to the global climate crisis.

“Russia’s war in Ukraine has caused extensive devastation, including the destruction or damage of homes, schools, hospitals, and other critical public facilities, leaving citizens without essential resources such as water, electricity, and healthcare. Beside causing damage to the natural environment of Ukraine, this war affects the global climate due to the release of significant amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere,” the authors wrote in the study. “In the early months of the war, the majority of the emissions were caused by the large scale destruction of civilian infrastructure requiring a large post-war reconstruction effort. Now, after two years of war, the largest share of emissions originate from a combination of warfare, landscape fires and the damage to energy infrastructure.”

The study, Climate Damage Caused by Russia’s War in Ukraine: 24 February 2022 – 23 February 2024 by Initiative on GHG accounting of war (IGGAW) — a coalition of climate experts estimating the impact of the war on Earth’s climate — found that, after two years of war, the planet’s GHG emissions have increased by 175 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

The GHG emissions include carbon dioxide, sulfur hexafluoride — the most potent GHG of all — and nitrous oxide, reported The Guardian. The total is equivalent to the annual emissions of 90 million gas-powered cars and more than that of countries like Venezuela and the Netherlands in 2022.

IGGAW is partially funded by the Swedish and German governments, along with the European Climate Foundation. It says the Russian Federation will be faced with a climate reparations bill of $32 billion for the first two years of the war.

“Russia is harming Ukraine but also our climate. This ‘conflict carbon’ is sizeable and will be felt globally. The Russian Federation should be made to pay for this, a debt it owes Ukraine and countries in the global south that will suffer most from climate damage,” said Lennard de Klerk, IGGAW lead author, as The Guardian reported.

The report is the first time reparations calculations have been made for climate impacts related to war.

The researchers found that one-third of emissions came from military activity — fuel used by Russian troops was the single biggest GHG source.

The concrete and steel that will be necessary to rebuild damaged and destroyed homes, schools, bridges, water plants and factories will contribute another third, depending on what proportion of carbon-intensive and more sustainable methods and materials are used in the reconstruction process.

The other third of GHG emissions came from fires, military strikes on energy infrastructure, the rerouting of commercial aircraft and the displacement of almost seven million Ukrainian and Russian people. The additional aviation fuel used to avoid the conflict generated a minimum of 24 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Fires associated with military actions burned 2.47 million acres of forest and fields, making up 13 percent of total carbon emissions.

Energy infrastructure was also targeted, creating huge GHG leaks.

The study found that the forced movement of millions of Ukrainians fleeing the conflict, millions of people displaced internally and Russians fleeing their country generated nearly 3.3 million tonnes of carbon.

“The new monetary estimate of climate damage highlights the important role of greenhouse gas emissions accounting for conflicts,” said Linsey Cottrell, Conflict and Environment Observatory environmental policy officer, as reported by The Guardian. “We critically need international agreement on how conflict and military emissions are measured and addressed.”