Global Military Spending Threatens A Liveable Future; Militarism Will Cost Us The Earth

Despite the multiple escalating threats to humanity and life on earth that urgently require cooperative global action, military spending increased to its highest ever recorded level last year - “an unprecedented rise” according to new figures released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) today, the Global Day of Action on Military Spending.

SIPRI has estimated global military expenditure last year was at least $2,718 billion (USD, ±$4,500 billion NZD), an increase of 9.4% in real terms from 2022 and the steepest year-on-year increase since the end of the cold war. [1] On average, this is equivalent to more than $7.4 billion (USD, ±$12.3 billion NZD) squandered every day on incessant preparations for war.

While the horrific impacts of this are obvious in Gaza, Ukraine, Myanmar, Sudan and far too many other places over the past year, the devastation of armed conflict is not the only casualty of military spending - it has wider consequences that threaten us all.

By way of comparison, for example, global funding for official development (ODA) and humanitarian assistance last year dropped by 7.1% in real terms to only 7.8% of the amount of military spending [2], while on average more than 13,150 children under the age of five died every day from mainly preventable causes [3] - lack of access to adequate food, clean water and basic medicines: that is more than nine tragically senseless deaths every minute.

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This is one of the prices paid, the collateral damage that is seldom talked about, for maintaining armed forces in a state of combat readiness around the world; an appalling situation that will worsen this year as some states, including Britain, have announced their ODA contribution will be diverted to increased military spending.

As another comparison, at COP 29 last year, pledges for loss and damage funding for vulnerable countries most susceptible to the devastating impacts of climate change amounted to less than three hours of global military spending; while the total amount of funding committed by the global Green Climate Fund is equivalent to 0.61% of last year’s military expenditure. [4]

It is inexcusable that many states - including New Zealand - continue to prioritise spending on combat-ready armed forces over human health and wellbeing, and care for the planet. The opportunity cost of military spending is multiple opportunities lost. Every dollar of military expenditure is a dollar taken away from socially useful spending - a dollar that could be used to take real action on climate change, to ensure a decent standard of living for all, and to ensure health and social welfare systems can function well in national, regional or global emergencies: it is a dollar that could be used to save lives, to promote climate justice, flourishing communities and care for the planet, rather than being spent on endless preparations for war.

The multiple threats to humanity and the planet - the rapidly escalating climate catastrophe, rising sea levels, intensifying extreme weather events, humanitarian disasters, horrific armed conflicts, environmental degradation, collapsing ecosystems, loss of biodiversity, species extinction, and increasing levels of social inequity - are devastating lives and livelihoods around the world; while highlighting and exacerbating systemic social, economic and political inequities, and exposing multiple flaws in government spending and other priorities, including the folly of maintaining armed forces in a constant state of combat readiness when there are so many other more pressing needs.

It is obvious that none of these threats can be addressed by increasing military spending and militarisation, and that all are compounded by the deadly priorities of those governments that continue to cling to outdated narrow notions of military security. Armed forces cannot turn the tide on rising sea levels, and increased combat capability cannot provide shelter from cataclysmic storms: instead, militarisation is exacerbating the climate emergency and other catastrophes facing humanity.

Now more than ever, with the future of life on earth at stake, states must work together cooperatively to find sustainable solutions, instead of continuing to pour public money into wasteful destructive military activity - the ultimate in unsustainability, with military emissions estimated to be at least 5.5% of the global total.

The five biggest military spenders in 2024 were the United States (37%), China (12%), Russia (5.5%), Germany (3.3%)and India (3.2), which together accounted for 60 per cent of world military spending; while expenditure by the 32 NATO member states was 55% of the global figure. Overall, average military expenditure as a share of government expenditure in 2024 was 7.1%, and the global military burden (military spending as a share of gross domestic product) was 2.5%. [1]

New Zealand's military spending

While New Zealand does not feature in the SIPRI rankings of the highest increases in military spending this year as it did in 2023, that is simply because other states increased their spending by more, not because New Zealand’s military spending has decreased.

Despite the urgent need for action on climate mitigation and adaptation, as well as the desperate need for increased funding for essential public services including health, housing, education, and support for persons with disabilities, successive New Zealand governments continue to prioritise military spending.

In last year’s Budget, $$5,790,195,000 (NZD) was allocated for military spending, on average than $111.3 million every week. [5] New Zealand’s enthusiasm for being an integral part of the global cycle of violence has led to the shameful spectre of military spending being at least doubled over the next eight years, announced earlier this month as New Zealand seeks to be a combat capable “force multiplier” with “enhanced lethality and deterrent effect” - a further threat to the possibility of substantive action on human health and wellbeing, and on climate justice both here in Aotearoa and in the region. [6]

Pacific communities and leaders have repeatedly stated that climate change is the existential security threat to the region, but New Zealand’s focus is on more militarisation rather than climate action. The Pacific is already one of the most highly militarised regions in the world, although only four Pacific island nations have armed forces. The overwhelming majority of militarisation in the Pacific comes from outside the region - military bases, military live training exercises, military alliances including AUKUS (specifically named in the SIPRI Factsheet), military involvement in extractive industries, and military occupation by the armed forces of Indonesia, France and the United States, in particular, along with Australia, Britain, China, Russia and New Zealand. Clearly there are better things New Zealand could be doing in the Pacific based on a dedicated focus on demilitarisation so that existing threats can be properly addressed and resourced, rather than fabricating more.

The ongoing prioritising of military spending - whether here in Aotearoa or around the world - is a reflection of the deadly ideology of militarism, a destructive mindset focused on obsolete concepts of military security that continue to harm the future of humanity and the planet, rather than real human security that meets the needs of all.

It is totally reprehensible that military spending continues to rise in the midst of the rapidly worsening climate catastrophe, humanitarian crises, and ongoing social inequities that are often caused, and always made worse, by militarisation: a transition from combat-ready armed forces to civilian agencies to meet the needs of all peoples and the planet is long overdue. [6]

The IPCC warned two years ago that if we want to have a liveable future, taking the right action now is needed for the transformational change essential for a sustainable, equitable world [8] - clearly it is time to invest in the future for peoples and planet, and budget for peace, not war. Unless there is an immediate and meaningful change in the priorities of New Zealand and other states, militarism will cost us the earth.

Resources and references:

• Aotearoa New Zealand Campaign on Military Spending, https://www.converge.org.nz/pma/gdams.htm
• SIPRI, https://www.sipri.org

[1] ‘Unprecedented rise in global military expenditure as European and Middle East spending surges’, SIPRI, 28 April 2025, and ‘Trends in world military expenditure 2024’, SIPRI Fact Sheet, April 2025, both are available at https://www.converge.org.nz/pma/gdams.htm

[2] ‘International aid falls in 2024 for first time in six years’, OECD, 16 April 2025

[3] ‘Levels and trends in child mortality: 2024 Report’, UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation, 24 March 2025

[4] See, for example, ‘COP of Peace?’, https://www.facebook.com/PeaceMovementAotearoa/posts/987598483397284 and Green Climate Fund dashboard, 26 April 2025

[5] ‘Budget 2024: Missed opportunity to slash wasteful military spending’, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 30 May 2024, https://www.facebook.com/PeaceMovementAotearoa/posts/870510595106074

[6] ‘Defence Capability Plan 2025’, NZ Government, released 7 April 2025

[7] As outlined, for example, in ‘Budget 2024: Missed opportunity to slash wasteful military spending’, note above.

[8] See, for example, ‘Urgent climate action can secure a liveable future for all’, IPCC, 20 March 2023, https://www.ipcc.ch/2023/03/20/press-release-ar6-synthesis-report

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