Defense Budgets Need to Fight War and Climate Change, Experts Say
A NATO summit in The Hague this week comes amid escalating military conflicts and rising global temperatures.
Spanish soldiers during the clean-up after extreme flooding in Paiporta, near Valencia, eastern Spain, in 2024.
Photographer: Jose Jordan/AFP/Getty ImagesTakeaways by Bloomberg AI
War and climate change are existential threats that need to be battled at the same time and often with the same tools, experts say. Their comments come as NATO members gather this week in The Hague to discuss boosting military budgets amid conflicts raging in Ukraine, Gaza and, most recently, Iran.
The meeting is also happening against a backdrop of rising global temperatures, which have increased the threat of more intense and frequent natural disasters, such as wildfires and floods. Catastrophes across Europe have already become so overwhelming that governments have increasingly deployed their armies for relief efforts.