International Ukraine war fuels climate crisis - 237 million tons of CO2
The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has not only cost the lives of tens of thousands of people and forced millions to flee their homes - nature and the climate are also suffering greatly. Since the invasion in February 2022, the war has caused as many climate-damaging greenhouse gases to be emitted as Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia together emit in one year. This was calculated by the Initiative for Greenhouse Gas Accounting of Wars (IGGAW).
08.10.2025, 09:52
SDA
According to the study, the total emissions from the war in Ukraine now amount to 237 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents. The various greenhouse gases are converted into this unit of measurement and thus made comparable. The background to this is that methane, for example, is much more harmful to the climate than CO2.
Tanks and jets burn a lot of diesel and kerosene
A third of climate-damaging greenhouse gases are released by the war itself, for example by tanks and jets, which burn a lot of diesel and kerosene. Another important factor is forest and bush fires ignited by the war. Most of them raged on or near the front lines or in border areas. According to the data, the area burned in 2024 was more than twenty times larger than the average for the years 2006 to 2021.
The summer of 2024 was also unusually dry - partly due to escalating global warming, according to climate scientists. The drought favored the fires. And extinguishing operations were usually not possible due to the battles, so they often spread uncontrollably.
The researchers concluded: "The year 2024 stands out as a worrying example of a cycle of destruction in which climate change and armed conflict reinforce each other and accelerate global warming."
Millions of hectares of forest destroyed
At the end of last year, Ukrainian Environment Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk drew a bleak balance at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku. According to her, a total of around three million hectares of forest had been destroyed by the war. The area of Ukraine contaminated with explosive residues amounts to 139,000 square kilometers.
According to IGGAW calculations, the shelling of large oil storage facilities and refineries as well as the Ukrainian energy infrastructure released around 17 million tons of CO2 equivalents in three years of war. The many flights, for example from Europe to Asia, which have to fly around Ukraine and Siberia, lengthen the flight routes enormously. As a result, an additional 20 million tons of CO2 equivalents have been emitted compared to the situation before the invasion.
