Russia's invasion of Ukraine directly caused or triggered the emission of 175 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, a joint report said on Thursday.
The report, published by Ukraine's Ministry of Environment and climate NGOs, said the estimate includes both emissions that have already been released and those that will occur during repair work following the destruction caused by the February 2022 invasion.
The report listed some of the main carbon-emitting activities caused by combat.
“Military vehicles used billions of litres of fuel, nearly one million hectares of farmland and forests were burned, hundreds of oil and gas facilities were blown up, and tons of steel and cement were used to fortify hundreds of miles of front line,” the report said.
The estimated 175 million tonnes is equivalent to the emissions from 90 million cars, or the entire country of the Netherlands, in a year.
The war launched by Moscow has left tens of thousands of people dead and millions displaced, but it has also caused massive environmental damage as the two armies fight Europe's largest ground conflict in 80 years.
The report, which aims to quantify the carbon footprint of the war, was compiled by the Ukrainian Ministry of Environment in collaboration with Ukrainian and international climate researchers.
The report used a metric called the social cost of carbon to calculate the approximate economic cost of additional emissions.
“The total climate damage caused by the Russian Federation during the 24 months of war exceeds $32 billion,” the report said.
The report said emissions from war were roughly split into three parts – military activity, steel and concrete needed to rebuild destroyed infrastructure, and the remaining third made up of a variety of sources including fires and the movement of people.
“During the early months of the war, the majority of emissions were caused by the extensive destruction of civilian infrastructure, necessitating extensive post-war reconstruction efforts,” the report said.
“Now that two years of war is over, the largest share of emissions comes from a combination of war, wildfires and damage to energy infrastructure.”
According to the report, military activities generated 51.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions.
The bulk of this figure, 35.2 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, is attributable to fuel consumption by the Russian military, and a further 9.4 million tonnes by the Ukrainian military.
As the world's largest consumer of fuel, the global military is responsible for 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report by international experts, according to a 2022 estimate.
The report said the war had significantly increased the frequency of wildfires in affected areas.
The report said 27,000 war-related fires burned one million hectares of land and contributed the equivalent of 23 million tonnes of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
The report also calculated that the closure of skies over Ukraine and parts of Russia, as well as restrictions on the use of Russian airspace by certain airlines, resulted in more than 24 million tonnes of additional carbon dioxide emissions.
“Restrictions and cautions have resulted in mostly clear skies over around 18 million square kilometres of Ukraine and Russia, making travel between Europe and Asia take longer and use extra fuel,” it said.
