Almost two million Gazans are displaced and more vulnerable to the climate crisis due to a war that significantly aggravates it.
The reconstruction of Gaza after the Israeli bombing will have a environmental cost of 60 million tons of CO2 equivalentaccording to a new study.
Israel’s unprecedented assault on Gaza since the Hamas attack of October 7in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed, has caused large-scale death, displacement and infrastructure destruction in the Palestinian territory.
Los The first four months of conflict have caused damage worth €17.1 billion to Gaz’s infrastructurea, according to the World Bank and the UN, they have destroyed up to 66% of the buildings and half of the trees in the territory, and They have killed more than 36,000 Palestinians.
Now with 23 million tons of debris left in their wake by Israel that could take years to clean up, a new study highlights the additional toll war is taking on the climate crisis. A research published in Social Science Research Network (still pending peer review) suggests that Emissions from the first 120 days of war exceed the annual emissions of 26 countries and territories.
Israel is responsible for 90% Of these, the remaining 10% of emissions come from Hamas fuel and rockets, electricity production in Gaza, and trucking to deliver much-needed humanitarian aid.
Gaza, densely populated and located in a region where temperatures are rising 20% faster than the rest of the world, is already very vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis. With 85% of the population displaced by war, Gaza sits at the intersection of conflict and climate.
How have climate experts calculated the CO2 cost of the conflict between Israel and Gaza?
Researchers from the US and UK analyzed CO2 emissions in three categories: pre-conflict construction, such as Hamas’ tunnel network, and defense of Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’activities in the first 120 days of the war, and the reconstruction of Gaza’s infrastructure and buildings.
Although it is estimated that the war itself has so far generated between 420,265 and 652,552 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) -which is equivalent to burning more than 1.5 million barrels of oil-, this figure soars to more than 61 million tons if construction and reconstruction are included before and after the war.
This digit It is higher than the annual emissions of 135 countriesbut there is currently no legal obligation for militaries to report or account for their emissions.
Lack of information on military emissions
Despite the lack of comprehensive data, Experts estimate that militaries account for 5.5% of total annual global carbon emissionsmore than civil aviation (3%) and civil navigation (2%) combined.
But according to him Paris Agreement, reporting on military emissions to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is voluntary. In fact, according to the organization The Military Emissions Gap, only four countries provide data to the UNFCCC.
In the annual national inventory of greenhouse gases (GHG) submitted by Israel to the UNFCCC does not contain specific data on emissions from the combustion of military fuel, but the study estimates that the emissions generated by Israel during the war were between 261,800 and 372,480 tons of CO2e, approximately the annual emissions of the Solomon Islands, where rising sea levels are drowning the land.
The carbon emissions of the bombs dropped on Gaza by the Israeli Defense Forces between October 2023 and February 2024 are equivalent to carbon emitted by the electricity supply of almost 10,000 homes for a year.
What is the carbon cost of rebuilding Gaza?
The largest carbon emission cited in the analysis comes from future reconstruction of Gaza: It is estimated that it will be between 46.8 and 60 million tons of CO2ehigher than the annual emissions of more than 135 countries.
The current Israeli offensive has damaged or destroyed Gazan infrastructure such as roads, water and wastewater treatment plants, the country’s only power plant, sewage networks and water wells, along with about 200,000 buildingsbetween hospitals, apartments and schools.
Before the conflict, around 25% of Gaza’s electricity came from solar panels. With most of this solar capacity damaged or destroyed, Gaza now relies on diesel generators for electricity, generating 58,000 tons of CO2e2e.
The study’s upper estimate of carbon across all pre- and post-war activities is comparable to burning 31,000 kilotonnes of coal, enough to power 15.8 power plants for a year.
There was a carbon cost even before the last conflict
The analysis also examined the carbon footprint of war-related infrastructure built before the latest conflict: in Gaza, Hamas’ 500km network of underground concrete and steel tunnelsused to store and transport weapons, train fighters and hold Israeli hostages.
ADVERTISINGAnd in Israel, the 65 km defense of the Iron Wallsix meters high, made up of metal fences, concrete barriers, barbed wire and cameras, which Hamas breached on October 7, the assault that began this latest conflict.
Together, these fortifications represent between 448,832 and 790,387 tons of CO2e, more than the annual emissions of Puerto Ricothe Caribbean territory devastated by hurricanes that the climate crisis has aggravated.
The climate crisis intersects with conflicts and humanitarian catastrophes
The authors conclude that their work aims to draw attention to the climatic repercussions of warbut do not divert attention from the humanitarian crisis engendered by conflict. But the cost of carbon, the environmental consequences and the humanitarian disaster are interrelated.
The International Committee of the Red Cross says Gaza, on the front lines of the climate crisis, is “where the effects of climate change exacerbate the grave humanitarian needs arising from an unresolved conflict.”
The Israeli assault Air, water and soil pollution has increased in Gazahas inflicted irreversible damage to the natural environment and released hazardous waste.
ADVERTISINGThe study suggests that the carbon footprint of Israeli bombings can be described as ecocide -damage caused to the environment deliberately or through negligence-, a war crime under the Rome Statute and in contradiction to the Geneva Convention, which prohibits methods that cause “widespread, long-lasting and serious damage to the natural environment.”
The Israeli government has not yet responded to requests for comment on the investigation.
