We have only one Earth, and to save it we need to take timely action against climate change. Illustration: Biplob Chakroborty
Technically, on Saturday, the US War on Terror came to an end.
According to the Brown University "Cost of War" study, since 9/11, the US will have spent USD 4.7 trillion waging war by the end of 2022, excluding the interest on debt used to finance the wars (USD 1.1 trillion) and war veteran care costs (USD 2.2 trillion). The human cost was 929,000 people killed and 38 million displaced. Look how the US Treasury debt ballooned from USD 5.8 trillion—or 54.9 percent of GDP—in September 2001 to USD 28.4 trillion—135.7 percent of GDP—by August 2021.
Such financial and human costs of the War on Terror may be trivial compared to the coming climate change costs on the whole planet. War costs only add to climate warming. The Brown University study showed that "the US Department of Defence is the largest institutional consumer of fossil fuels in the world and a key contributor to climate change. Between 2001 and 2017, the years for which data is available since the beginning of the war on terrorism with the US invasion of Afghanistan, the US military emitted 1.2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases."
Today, the IPCC 2021 Sixth Assessment has warned that the planet is running out of time to deal with climate change. This is an existential crisis not just for one country, but the whole of mankind. Like the pandemic, we need a "whole of government" and "whole of...
Read Full Story: https://www.thedailystar.net/views/opinion/news/why-businesses-must-lead-war-climate-change-2174346
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