Militarisation and the climate crisis in South Asia

Introduction

The climate crisis is contributing to extreme weather, including heatwaves, droughts and flooding in South Asia. These trends are affecting India and Pakistan; both have faced floods whose losses are expected to reach billions of dollars, and both countries are paying a heavy price for historical emissions they were not responsible for. 

Today, Pakistan contributes around 0.9% of global GHG emissions and, while India at 8% is now the third largest global emitter after China and the US, its per capita emissions remain comparatively low. Both countries spend billions on their militaries each year, but the scale of their military emissions has received relatively little scrutiny. As Pakistan’s military is deeply involved in many sectors of its economy, it makes determining its carbon footprint complex. 

Both countries are nuclear powers, and both are entwined in an arms race, fanning tensions that spilled over into conflict earlier this year. Since 1998, this new nuclear security competition has diverted huge sums of public money into procuring military technologies. Pakistan spends around 2.2% of its GDP on its military, around $9 billion annually, which is justified on the basis of perceived Indian aggression. Meanwhile, India will spend $78 billion this year, an increase of 9.5%, although a quarter of this will be spent on military pensions.