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). It also provides the first, albeit partial, snapshot of the carbon cost of Israel’s other recent regional conflicts. This is on a par with the entire 2023 emissions generated by Afghanistan. Israel’s military budget surged in 2024 to $46.5bn – the largest increase in the world, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Based on one methodology, Israel’s baseline military emissions last year – excluding direct conflict and reconstruction climate costs – rose to 6.5m tCO2e.
