Environmental activists oppose Russia's war in Ukraine over climate impact

Environmental activists are opposing Russia's war in Ukraine, arguing that the fighting is causing millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide to be released into the atmosphere.

Lennard de Klerk, described by Politico in an article Sunday as a "Dutch carbon expert-turned-hotelier," said he was thinking, "What more can I do to help Ukraine?" when he first thought about tracking Ukraine's climate impact.

He felt that tracking carbon emissions related to the invasion of Ukraine could help people care more about the conflict.

"The human tragedy is constrained to the territory of Ukraine," de Klerk said he remembers thinking. "Carbon emissions are a different story; they impact everyone’s climate."

Shortly after getting this idea in March 2022, De Klerk assembled a small team to track the war's emissions. An interim report released earlier this summer found that during the first 12 months of the war in Ukraine, 120 million metric tons of carbon dioxide were released. 

For comparison, that number is higher than the annual emissions of many small countries, such as Belgium, Chille, Austria, Bangladesh and Israel, according to the European Union.

"It is the first time that serious attention has been focused on how the war has contributed to global emissions," Conflict and Environment Observatory leader Doug Weir said. 

Follow Madeleine Hubbard on X or Instagram.