How the US became the biggest military emitter and stopped everyone finding out

In 2023, the Pentagon’s operations generated 48 megatons of CO2 equivalent, more than some countries. Photograph: Patrick Semansky/AP

The climate impact of Donald Trump’s geopolitical ambitions could deepen planetary catastrophe, triggering a global military buildup that accelerates greenhouse gas emissions, a leading expert has warned.

The Pentagon – the US armed forces and Department of Defense (DoD) agencies – is the world’s largest institutional greenhouse gas emitter, accounting for at least 1% of total US emissions annually, according to analysis by Neta Crawford, co-founder of the Costs of War project at Brown University.