Towards “net-zero” warfare? : mitigation of military greenhouse gas emissions in peacetime and during armed conflict
Publisher
University of British Columbia
Date Issued
2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
Master of Laws - LLM
Program
Law
Description
Military activity has a detrimental impact on the climate crisis, one of humanity's most pressing challenges. Mindful of the growing awareness among states of their militaries’ significant reliance on fossil fuels and excessive greenhouse gas emissions from their activities (military emissions) in both peacetime and during armed conflict, and of calls from civil society for ambitious action, this paper examines the extent to which states should be obligated to mitigate their military emissions. The analysis includes a legal examination of relevant provisions from international climate change law and international humanitarian law to understand current implicit obligations. Additionally, it empirically assesses official publications from the fifteen states considered to have the most emitting militaries globally, or the Top 15 Military Emitters, to evaluate their degree of efforts towards their military emissions. The paper then turns to international relations and applies what it calls the Modified Compliance Trilemma, informed by contributions from Jeffrey Dunoff and Markus Jachtenfuchs. Based on this analysis, the paper argues that states should be required to acknowledge their military emissions using a standardized methodology and incorporate them into long-term mitigation strategies. States should also recognize part of their conflict-related emissions, particularly those directly linked to their military activities. However, states should retain discretion over how to implement these efforts and ability to consider their national circumstances and security concerns. These requirements should apply equally to all states, and particularly the Top 15 Military Emitters. These suggestions aim to balance the Modified Compliance Trilemma parameters and provide a pragmatic and realistic approach for states to address their military emissions.
Date Available
2024-07-10
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Affiliation
Law, Peter A. Allard School of
ID
10.14288/1.0444121