Outrage in public broadcasting: The Bundeswehr as a climate sinner

Public broadcasting criticizes the Bundeswehr for not meeting its climate targets. Meanwhile, there is praise for Ukraine because the reconstruction should be "climate-friendly".

The Bundeswehr is missing its climate targets – the military has to put up with the accusation from public broadcasting. "When a Bundeswehr tornado takes off from Büchel Air Base in Rhineland-Palatinate, it emits 14.6 tons of CO2 per flight hour," begins an article by RBB journalist Torsten Mandalka.

“The missions of such combat aircraft are, for example, what the Bundeswehr understands by 'military-specific mobility'. According to the federal government, the increase in CO2 emissions in this area rose by 25 percent from 2019 to 2021,” explains Mandalka. The Bundeswehr recorded an 18 percent increase in CO2 emissions: from 1.45 million tons to 1.71 million tons.

The public service broadcaster mocked this: "In any case, the Bundeswehr does particularly badly compared to the overall climate balance of the Federal Republic." In addition, the actual emission figures of the army are only incompletely documented. Military operations and wars are a "blind spot" in climate research.

The "exclusive data" of the RBB, as announced in the preview, turn out to be the answer to a request from the Left Party in the course of the article. Their MP Sevim Dagdelen can then also comment on their own question: the military is a climate killer, further upgrading of the Bundeswehr is harmful to the climate. Instead of investing in the military, investments should be made in energy security and climate protection. No excuse is too bad for the left either.

Ukraine shows how to do it right. It recently received praise from Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary in the Development Ministry. He was very impressed by the Ukrainian prime minister when it came to the question of financial aid for reconstruction. Admittedly, one is not that far, because the war is still going on. But:

"What really impressed us is that the Prime Minister of Ukraine emphasized that the reconstruction should be organized in such a way that it is sustainable, that it is based on climate goals."

In the perfect climate-wish world, even wars are only a secondary problem, even if they take place on our doorstep. The priorities are clear. The deployment of the Bundeswehr would therefore be irresponsible due to reasons of climate protection.

Source: Tichys Einblick