Cop26 failed to consider war industry's part in climate crisis

Ireland has some part in the arms industry, as evidenced by an event being hosted by the Department of Defence this month in the Aviva Stadium, writes Joe Murray, co-ordinator of Afri — Action From Ireland

The US defence department has a larger carbon footprint than most countries. File photo: Andrew Parsons

As the ink has barely dried on the Cop26 agreement and citizens are pouring over the entrails to see if anything significant has been achieved, one thing is certain: The planet remains in mortal danger and actions now need to match, or indeed far exceed, words. 

Despite extreme weather events and the threat to life posed by greenhouse gas emissions, governments, especially those of rich countries, are woefully reluctant to take the necessary steps to seriously address this issue. And a huge elephant in the room at Cop26 was the failure to even consider tackling the war industry’s part in this crisis.