Global Week of Action for Peace and Climate Justice

The first annual Week of Action for Peace and Climate Justice will address the links between war, militarism and climate injustice, promoting grassroots action and policy making for peace and climate justice. This year’s theme is divest from war – invest in climate justice!

Find out more at: www.climatemilitarism.org/weekofaction/ 

War and militarism have helped to cause climate breakdown. War destroys lands and ecosystems, polluting water, soil and air, while leaving behind toxic remnants and unexploded weapons that cause harm generations after a conflict ends. The world’s militaries account for 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions; emissions which are still excluded from global climate agreements. Military industries depend on vast amounts of metals, minerals and fossil fuels; and military spending diverts resources from climate action. But some people argue militarism is part of the solution: that we need harder borders, more arms and bigger armies to cope with climate breakdown. They claim that war can be made green – but this is not the solution.

We do have alternatives that can both protect ourselves and the planet. It is vital that movements for peace and climate justice understand the connections between our causes and work together for a world that values the safety and wellbeing of everyone; foregrounding people and planet over power and profit. No climate justice without demilitarisation!

The Week of Action for Peace and Climate Justice will run yearly, involving a wide range of events and actions organised by groups around the world, from webinars to advocacy events to demonstrations. Working together, we will:

• Raise public awareness of the links between war, militarism and climate injustice;
• Build connections between peace, climate and justice movements;
• And build momentum for collective action and policy making against militarism and for climate justice.

You can take part in the week of action from anywhere, by planning your own event or action for peace and climate justice. In the run-up to September we will be providing toolkits and resources to help you plan an effective action, and will share information about what’s happening so you can connect with others taking part. More information and a mailing list will be coming soon – visit https://climatemilitarism.org/weekofaction for updates.

The world’s wealthiest countries have consistently failed to meet targets to provide $100 billion in climate finance to help countries suffering the worst impacts of climate breakdown. Meanwhile, there always seems to be money for war: in 2023 global military spending rose for the ninth year in a row, reaching a record high of $2.44 trillion (an increase of 6.8 per cent in real terms from 2022). 2023 also saw the hottest day – highest global temperatures – ever recorded.

We need to invest in building a safer and fairer world in the long-term, rather than in fueling war and militarism, which are helping to drive climate and environmental harm. It is time to move the money from militarisation to just forms of climate action. It is time to break the ties with military and fossil power, for the world’s wealthiest to reckon with colonialism and make progress on reparations for loss and damage. Groups are welcome to focus on the linkages between peace and climate justice that are most important to them in their actions, but we invite people to unite behind a common demand to divest from war – invest in climate justice!

This week is being facilitated by a sub-committee of the Arms, Militarism and Climate Justice Working Group. For more information, please email weekofaction AT climatemilitarism.org

Contact: weekofaction@climatemilitarism.org