|
The
Military: The military, one of the worst polluters on Earth, is glorified by governments, its carbon and other pollution excluded from international agreements on climate change, and its destructive impact on people and planet concealed. Arguments abound over welfare spending and nurses’ pay, but there is virtually no opposition to the nearly £2 billion cost for each of eight Trident submarines. · 160 million people were killed in military conflict in the 20th century, and more than 2 million already in this century, the majority women, children and people of colour. · Currently, between 38 and 60 million people are war refugees fleeing destruction, half of whom are children.
· After Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the US tested 66 nuclear weapons in the south Pacific where the population, again people of colour, has an exceedingly high rate of cancer. Between 1951 and 1992 they conducted 928 nuclear tests in Nevada, spreading radiation widely. · One-third of the land in Libya still conceals land mines and unexploded World War II munitions. · As the world’s largest single polluter, the US military creates 750,000 tons of toxic waste every year: depleted uranium, oil, jet fuels, pesticides, defoliants, lead and other chemicals. · The military internationally are responsible for 6% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions. In 2017 the US military emitted more than 25 million tons of carbon dioxide, plus massive haze-forming pollution which causes far more global warming. · The UK is the largest arms producer in Western Europe, selling illegally to Saudi Arabia for its war in Yemen. The UK military emits 11 million tonnes of carbon dioxide – almost half as much as the US. · War and military coups bring deforestation and soil destruction. “Large-scale deforestation driven mainly by four decades of war has contributed to widespread flooding throughout Afghanistan, prompting many in rural areas to move to the capital Kabul or leave the country.” (Reuters). Since the military coup in Burma, deforestation there has escalated. · Depleted uranium used by US and UK during both gulf wars (1990, 2003), continues to cause kidney damage, lung and bone cancers, neurocognitive and respiratory disorders, chromosomal damage and other birth defects. · Israel is the 6th largest arms exporter in the world, advertising its weapons, including depleted uranium warheads, as battle-tested on Palestinians. Because of bombing and blockade, only 5% of Gaza’s water aquifer is now fit to drink. Birth defects continue to rise in Gaza. Mining, logging, oil & gas, agrobusiness, pharmaceutical & chemical companies all rely on military and paramilitary forces to repress movements internationally of human rights defenders, starting with Indigenous peoples, protecting lands, ecosystems and societies. The anti-military, anti-war and anti-occupation movements, including refuseniks and whistle-blowers, are part of the movement against environmental destruction. A CARE INCOME FOR PEOPLE & PLANET The Green New Deal for Europe calls, with us, for a Care Income to “compensate activities like care for people, the urban and rural environment, and the natural world.” Overwhelmingly performed by women, this undervalued work must become central to society, done by all of us regardless of gender. Defund the military to fund a care income and a caring society! https://globalwomenstrike/careincomenow Global military spending is about $2 trillion a year. Imagine how that money could repair the planet and end poverty! Invest in Caring not Killing! Payday men’s network / Refusing to Kill |
