Carbon footprint of Israel’s war on Gaza exceeds that of many entire countries

Climate cost of war is more than than the combined 2023 emissions of Costa Rica and Estonia, study finds

About 50% of direct conflict emissions came from the supply and use of weapons, tanks and other ordnance by Israeli military. File picture: Ohad Zwigenberg/AP

The carbon footprint of the first 15 months of Israel’s war on Gaza will be greater than the annual planet-warming emissions of a hundred individual countries, exacerbating the global climate emergency on top of the huge civilian death toll, new research reveals.

A study shared exclusively with the Guardian found the long-term climate cost of destroying, clearing and rebuilding Gaza could top 31m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e). This is more than the combined 2023 annual greenhouse gases emitted by Costa Rica and Estonia, yet there is no obligation for states to report military emissions to the UN climate body.