In the first two years of the full-scale war in Ukraine caused by russian aggression, greenhouse gas emissions reached 175 million tons and caused at least $32 billion in damage. UNN writes about this with reference to Newscientist.
Details
A group of climate experts has estimated that over the two years of russia's war against Ukraine, greenhouse gas emissions are equivalent to approximately 175 million tons of carbon dioxide. The additional warming that will result from such emissions is estimated to lead to extreme weather conditions around the world, causing $32 billion in damages. The estimate is based on a 2022 study that puts the social price of carbon at around $185 per ton of CO2.
Ukraine intends to add these climate costs to the list of damages for which russia is responsible and for which it will seek compensation.
This will be an important element in the damages case we are building against russia
The Greenhouse Gas Accounting for War Initiative has released its fourth assessment of the impact of war, covering the period from February 2022 to February 2024. Restoring bombed-out buildings, roads and other infrastructure is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for nearly one-third of the 175 megatons. This figure includes restoration that has yet to take place. Another third of the emissions are a direct result of military operations, with fuel use accounting for the largest portion of them.
About 14% of the total emissions are due to passenger airlines being forced to change their routes to avoid russia and Ukraine. For example, flights from Tokyo to London now fly over Canada instead of russia, which increases the flight time from 11 to 15 hours.
About 13% is due to an increase in the number of landscape fires detected by satellites. This is due not only to the shelling that causes fires, but also to the termination of fire management in the occupied territories, the assessment says.
There is a great deal of uncertainty in the figures, as in most cases there is no official data to rely on. Instead, experts turned to open-source estimates or data from previous conflicts.
Recall
According to the estimates of the Ministry of Environment , almost 5 thousand tons of carbon dioxide were released into the air due to russia's large-scale attacks on Ukraine in January. In Kyiv, more than 1.5 thousand tons of pollutants were released into the air as a result of fires that occurred after two enemy attacks.