Militarism and the Climate Crisis: From Baku to Belém

Militarism and the Climate Crisis: From Baku to Belém

A feminist call for demilitarisation in the UN climate process

On 19 September, Peace Boat, as part of the Peace & Demilitarisation Working Group of the Women & Gender Constituency, co-organised for the Global Week of Action for Peace and Climate Justice, in support of the wider Draw the Line mobilisation.

How does militarism drive the climate crisis, and why is it ignored in UN climate talks? This webinar will unpack the links between war, military spending, emissions, fossil fuels, nuclear power, and climate injustice. We will reflect on the outcomes of COP29 in Baku, highlight the gaps in addressing peace and demilitarisation, and look ahead to COP30 in Belém — an “Implementation COP” that must confront militarism as a barrier to climate justice and a Just Transition.

Please see below for materials referenced by speakers


 

Speakers :

• Deborah Burton – Founder, Tipping Point North South / Transform Defence

• Stuart Parkinson – Executive Director, Scientists for Global Responsibility

• Makoma Lekalakala – Director, Earthlife Africa Johannesburg

• Dennis Opondo – International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)

• Hebah Kassem - Advisor to Palestinian Institute for Climate Strategy

• Tasneem ElFatih - Independent Resaercher from Sudan

• Ghania Aldirdir - Politics and Governance Fellow at YouLead Africa

• Katrin Geyer – Environment Advisor, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom

• Fatemah Khafagy – Co-Convener of the Arab States CSOs & Feminist Network 

Moderator: Karen Hallows, Peace Boat

Global military spending reached a record USD 2.7 trillion in 2024, while militaries are estimated to account for around 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Despite this, under the Paris Agreement, countries are not required to report military emissions, and military budgets remain absent from climate finance discussions. The imbalance is stark: while trillions are poured into weapons and war, only a fraction is invested in adaptation, loss and damage, or the care economies that sustain life.

Militarism is more than a question of spending or emissions. It is a system of violence, inequality, and extractivism that undermines peace and blocks a Just Transition to equitable, sustainable futures. From the promotion of nuclear power as a false climate “solution” to the deep ties between militarism and fossil fuel dependency, military agendas actively obstruct climate justice.

At COP29 in Baku, the Presidency launched the Climate and Peace Action Hub — a step forward in recognising the links between climate and security. Yet militarism itself was left unaddressed. As we look toward COP30 in Belém, framed as an “Implementation COP,” the stakes are clear: implementation must mean confronting militarism as a structural barrier to climate action and justice.

Materials and Resources referenced in this Webinar

Deborah Burton – Founder, Tipping Point North South / Transform Defence

https://tippingpointnorthsouth.org/2025/09/17/new-briefing-military-conflict-related-emissions-climate-reparations-for-palestine/

Stuart Parkinson – Executive Director, Scientists for Global Responsibility

2022 SGR/ CEOBS report - https://www.sgr.org.uk/publications/estimating-military-s-global-greenhouse-gas-emissions 

2025 SGR report - https://www.sgr.org.uk/publications/military-spending-rises-and-greenhouse-gas-emissions-what-does-research-say
 

Dennis Opondo – International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)

https://www.ippnw.org/cop

Katrin Geyer – Environment Advisor, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom

Katrin Geyer, Stop Fossil Fuels From Fuelling Conflict: Why the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty is an essential climate tool for peace?, WILPF International and Fossil Fuel Treaty Non-Proliferation Treaty, 2024 https://www.wilpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/StopFossilFuelsFromFuellingConflict.pdf

Mitzi Jonelle Tan and Katrin Geyer, 9 Ways Fossil Fuels Are Tied to Conflict and How Feminist Peace Action Through the Fossil Fuel Treaty Can Stop It, September 2025, https://www.wilpf.org/9-ways-fossil-fuels-are-tied-to-conflict-and-how-feminist-peace-action-through-the-fossil-fuel-treaty-can-stop-it/

Speaker Profiles

Hebah Kassem
Hebah Kassem is a strategist, organizer, and founder of the Visionary Edge, where she partners with mission-driven organizations to advance their strategy and achieve their goals. She is a leading voice in public health, environmental and climate justice, industrial policy, human rights, and grassroots organizing, with over a decade of experience shaping bold policies and mobilizing communities for systemic change in the U.S. and abroad.

Grounded in her Palestinian roots and the lived experience of communities impacted by apartheid and militarization, Hebah is committed to liberation and justice for all oppressed communities. She also serves as an advisor with the Palestine Institute for a Climate Strategy, advancing climate solutions rooted in sovereignty, equity, and demilitarization.

Hebah has held leadership roles at Just Solutions Collective, The Sunrise Project, Sierra Club, Green New Deal Network, and the Congressional Progressive Caucus Center, where she played a pivotal role in advancing initiatives at the intersection of climate, economic, and social justice. Her expertise spans national political strategy, campaign management, and movement-building, helping to elect progressive champions and mobilize communities for systemic change.

Hebah holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Illinois-Chicago and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Michigan.

Tasneem Elfatih
Tasneem Elfatih is a young climate activist and youth negotiator from Sudan. She is an environmental advocate, researcher on the environmental impacts of the Sudan war, and junior Loss and Damage negotiator with the Least Developed Countries Group at the UNFCCC. She has a background in engineering and development studies, focusing on climate change impacts and advocating for sustainable solutions in international discussions. Tasneem is dedicated to addressing the intersection of climate change, conflict, and sustainable development.

Dr. Fatma Khafagy
Fatma Khafagy holds a PhD in Development Planning from the University of London. She headed the gender program at UNICEF Egypt for fifteen years and established and led the country’s first Gender Equality Ombuds Office for six years. She is a founder and member of several national, regional, and international feminist NGOs and networks, including the Alliance for Arab Women and Women Are Change Agents NGO.

Fatma is the co-founder and co-convener of the Arab States CSOs & Feminist Network, and has also served as a member of the UN Civil Society Advisory Group to the core group of the Generation Equality Forum. She is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the Egyptian National Dialogue.

Dr. Khafagy has written extensively on women’s rights and gender equality. In November 2024, she was elected for two years as a member of the MENA Regional Coordinating Team (RCT) of the Women and Gender Climate Constituency (WGC), in recognition of her expertise in gender equality and climate justice. She will advocate for feminist climate justice and work to strengthen movement-building for climate justice in the region.
 

Ghania Aldirdir
Ghania Aldirdiri is a politics and governance fellow at YouLead Africa, and works as a program manager and research assistant with the Sudanese Women Economists Association (SWEA). She has been active in Sudan’s civil society for years, with experience in research, policy projects, and dialogue facilitation.

Dennis Opondo
Dennis Opondo is a global health specialist, working as health manager at Kalobeyei Refugee Operations in Northern Kenya. He is active with MSSR Kenya, the national affiliate of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), raising awareness against nuclear weapons and their humanitarian consequences. Dennis is also a keen advocate for medical peacework and the interlinked struggle for climate justice and peace in the Eastern African region.

Makoma Lekalakala
Makoma is the Director of Earthlife Africa, a civil society environmental justice and anti-nuclear organisation. She has long been active in social movements tackling issues from gender and women’s rights to social, economic, and environmental justice.

In recent years, Makoma has focused on targeting environmental corruption. Her commitment to climate justice in South Africa has led civil society to win the first South African climate change legal case against the government and the reversal of the nuclear deal by South Africa and the Russian government. For her efforts, she received an Honourable Mention by WWF, the Eco Logic Bronze Award, the Goldman Environmental Prize for Africa (2018), and the SAB Environmentalist of the Year Award (2018), amongst other accolades. She also serves in the Presidential Climate Commission, a body tasked with advising South Africa’s transition to low-carbon economic development.

Katrin Geyer
Katrin Geyer is the Environment Advisor at WILPF International. She advances ecological justice within feminist peace and disarmament advocacy, and centres peace and demilitarisation in the climate justice movement and in multilateral spaces. WILPF is a partner of the Fossil Fuel Treaty Campaign and a member of the Women and Gender Constituency and Climate Action Network.

Dr. Stuart Parkinson
Dr. Stuart Parkinson is Executive Director of Scientists for Global Responsibility, a post he has held for over 20 years, where he has co-ordinated research, education, and campaigning on ethical issues across science and technology. He holds a PhD in climate change science and a Bachelor’s degree in physics and engineering.

He has worked in academia, industry, and for environmental non-governmental organisations, as well as being an expert reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He has authored and co-authored numerous reports, academic papers, and popular science articles, including several influential reports on military carbon emissions.

Deborah Burton
Deborah Burton has wide-ranging experience across economic justice campaigns such as trade and tax justice, as well as children’s human rights and women’s health and environment. She leads Tipping Point North South’s primary policy and advocacy project, Transform Defence—covering military emissions and spending, climate change and climate finance, UN processes, and wider foreign and defence policy thinking.

Previously, her work at Tipping Point North South included executive producing cinema documentaries including We Are Many (exploring the global anti-Iraq protest movement) and Open Bethlehem (a film about the impact of the Israeli separation wall on the town and citizens of Bethlehem).

Karen Hallows
Karen Hallows is International Coordinator at Peace Boat, working on demilitarisation, climate justice, nuclear disarmament, and youth engagement. She co-leads the Peace and Demilitarisation for Climate Justice Working Group within the UNFCCC Women and Gender Constituency, working to highlight how militarism fuels climate breakdown and undermines gender equality and global justice.