NATO chief: Armies must keep pace with global climate efforts
CTV
The world's armies must keep pace with global efforts to tackle climate change and cut their huge carbon footprints according to clearly defined benchmarks, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday.
Little reliable data exists on emissions created by military activities but there is no doubt they are big: a 2019 report conluded the U.S. military would be the world's 47th largest emitter of greenhouse gases if it were a country.
"There is no way to reach net zero without also including emissions from the military," Stoltenberg said in an interview at the COP26 climate conference, referring to the ambitions of many nations to hit net-zero emissions by mid-century.
Stoltenberg, a former UN special envoy on climate change, said work had already started within the alliance on a methodology to measure armed forces' emissions and that his aspiration was that this should be completed by end-2022.
"That is aim but of course I am dependent on agreement among 30 allies," he told Reuters.
