As the international community prepares for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31) in Antalya, Türkiye, this November, a critical blind spot in global environmental reporting has come to the fore. In a recent special issue of The BMJ focused on the climate crisis, experts are calling for a radical overhaul of how military-related carbon emissions are measured, reported, and mitigated. The authors argue that the current exemption of military activities from mandatory carbon accounting is a significant barrier to achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
While the climate impact of the civilian aviation, shipping, and manufacturing sectors is heavily scrutinized under international climate protocols, the defense sector operates under a different set of rules. Since the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the reporting of military greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has been largely voluntary, a policy carryover that critics contend is outdated in an era of rapid decarbonization. This lack of transparency means that the significant carbon footprint of jet fighters, naval fleets, and the global military supply chain remains excluded from national climate targets.
The call for accountability arrives at a pivotal moment. The defense sector is inherently energy-intensive, and modern military hardware is becoming increasingly reliant on fossil fuels. High-performance jet fighters, for instance, consume vast quantities of specialized kerosene, with emissions profiles that are significantly higher per hour of operation than their commercial counterparts. When factoring in the full lifecycle of military infrastructure—including the carbon-intensive manufacture of weapon systems and the operation of global military bases—the total impact is believed to be substantial.
Estimates from independent researchers suggest that if the global military were a country, it would rank among the top emitters worldwide. However, the data remains fragmented and opaque. Because military emissions are often folded into broader “national security” categories or dismissed as non-reportable, policymakers are working with incomplete datasets when formulating national climate strategies.
“We cannot manage what we do not measure,” noted one climate policy expert contributing to the debate. The argument presented in The BMJ is that the current status quo creates an “emissions loophole” that compromises the integrity of national net-zero pledges. By shielding defense operations from the same rigorous auditing applied to civilian industry, governments are failing to account for a critical segment of their total carbon output.
The proposal put forth by these experts ahead of COP31 is twofold: first, the development of a standardized, transparent reporting framework for military emissions under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); and second, the inclusion of these figures in official national inventories. Proponents argue that bringing defense emissions into the light would incentivize the development of greener technologies, such as hybrid-electric propulsion for military vehicles and a transition toward sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) for training and logistics.
Critics of mandatory reporting have historically cited operational security concerns, fearing that publishing energy usage data could provide adversaries with insights into military readiness and logistics. However, proponents of the new transparency initiative argue that aggregate data—reporting total emissions without revealing specific troop movements or tactical details—could satisfy environmental accountability requirements without compromising national security.
As delegates converge in Antalya, the pressure is mounting for the UNFCCC to address this historical oversight. The discourse surrounding COP31 is no longer confined to civilian decarbonization; it is expanding to demand accountability from every sector of government. Whether member states will agree to dismantle the “military exemption” remains a point of intense diplomatic friction. Nonetheless, the evidence presented in The BMJ underscores a fundamental reality: as the climate crisis accelerates, the global defense establishment can no longer remain a silent partner in the carbon equation. For the world to reach the milestones set by the Paris Agreement, the carbon footprint of global security must be measured, audited, and ultimately, significantly reduced.
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