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Divest From War - Invest in Climate Justice! Global Week of Action for Peace and Climate Justice
Peace Boat participated in the Global Week of Action for Peace & Climate Justice, the first annual Week of Action to address the links between war, militarism and climate injustice, promoting grassroots action and policy-making for peace and climate justice. The Global Week of Action for Peace & Climate Justice is coordinated by the Arms, Militarism and Climate Justice Working Group; an international network of researchers and activists committed to ending the militarisation of the climate crisis. Over 50 events took place around the world under this year’s theme 'Divest from War – Invest in Climate Justice.'
The world is facing the highest number of violent conflicts since WWII, devastating communities while large-scale armed conflicts drive global emissions higher with no route for accountability for those impacted. Experts including the Scientists for Global Responsibility and the Climate and Environment Observatory estimate that the world’s militaries are responsible for 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This means that if the world’s militaries were a country, they would have the fourth largest carbon footprint- higher than that of Russia. But militaries are excluded from current climate agreements and are not required to report their emissions to the United Nations. According to data published this year by the Stockholm Institute for Peace Research (SIPRI), military spending is at a record high of 2.44 trillion U.S. dollars, and yet states are failing to deliver on climate finance commitments.
Onboard the 118th Global Voyage, International Director, Remy Milot gave a lecture on the connections between militarism and the climate crisis to a full theatre of around 500 people. The lecture, given in English and interpreted into Japanese, Korean and Chinese, looked at focused on the connections between militarism and climate justice, explaining the military’s impact on the climate through emissions and military spending. It also looked at communities on the frontline of militarism are also the same communities on the frontline of climate change, for example the Marshall Islands which continues to suffer fom the impacts of nuclear testing including the nuclear waste kept at Runit Dome and is now heavily impacted by rising seas and extreme weather events caused by the climate change.
Youth who attended the lecture and were keen to show their solidarity with the Week of Action made a banner for a photo action on top deck. One hundred participants took part in a photo action on top deck with the words “Divest From War- Invest in Climate Justice”. A similar lecture and photo action took place at the Peace Boat Centre in Tokyo, Japan held by International Coordinator, Hatakeyama Sumiko.
