In September, world leaders are coming to New York City for the UN General Assembly and a UN summit on the climate crisis. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is urging governments to support an ambitious global agreement to dramatically reduce global warming pollution.
On September 21, people will take to the streets in New York (and around the world) in the Peoples Climate March to demand the world we know is within our reach: a world with an economy that works for people and the planet; a world safe from the ravages of climate change; a world with good jobs, clean air and water, and healthy communities.
September 21 is UN International Day for Peace. September 26 is the first International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
Abolition 2000 and United for Peace and Justice call on environmentalists, peace advocates and anti-nuclear campaigners to join forces to save the planet from climate change, war and the threats from nuclear weapons and nuclear energy.
War’s destroy the environment. The military is the biggest single contributor to climate change. Less than 5% of the $1.7 billion global military budget could facilitate a global shift to renewables. If nukes are used they could destroy the climate and the planet.
September 19 – 20, a Global Climate Convergence for People, Peace and the Planet, with workshops and teach-ins, will complement the march. A worldwide petition campaign with local actions for 100% sustainable energy for every city, state and country has been launched. Sign up here!!
Abolition 2000 and United for Peace and Justice are using the occasion to remind governments and civil society of the connections between nuclear weapons, war and climate change:
- Nuclear weapons and climate change are the two existential threats that face humanity. Both are the result of human activity and both can be eliminated by human ingenuity.
- Any use of nuclear weapons would create catastrophic climatic consequences that would dwarf the environmental impact of carbon emissions;
- The world’s militaries are the single biggest contributor to climate change through use of military vehicles (planes, ships, tanks…), weapons testing, weapons use and other environmental destruction from armed conflict;
- Militaries are used to maintain access to oil – continuing this dependence on carbon-emitting fossil fuels;
- Redirection of just a portion of the $i.7 trillion global military expenditure could provide sufficient support for renewable energies and other approaches to reverse climate change.
The Global Climate Convergence will also highlight that nuclear power is not the solution to climate change, that it creates unacceptable risks to human health and the environment, and that nuclear technology and materials can be diverted into nuclear weapons programs. Indeed, nuclear weapons and nuclear power are two sides of the same coin, with technical, environmental, historical, legal, political and economic connections.
Actions:
- Join the New York Climate march and the Global Climate Convergence, and promote the link to war and nuclear abolition.
- Contact your local or national environmental organisations to encourage them to include the link to nuclear abolition in their climate actions.
For further information see:
- Deadly global climate change from nuclear war, Steve Starr, Nuclear Darkness
- Top scientists ask UN leaders to act on nuclear weapons, climate change, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, January 2014
- The Climate-Nuclear Nexus, World Future Council and the Basel Peace Office
- The military’s impact on the environment, International Peace Bureau
- The Solutions Project
- A Plan to Power 100 Percent of the Planet with Renewables by 2030