As 2026 begins, the global landscape is being reshaped by deepening conflicts – US-China rivalry, rising militarisation and growing climate stress. While governments continue to reaffirm commitments to sustainability, one reality is becoming impossible to ignore: climate action cannot succeed in a world at war. The UN Secretary-General has repeatedly warned that escalating conflicts are pushing humanity toward "climate hell". Today, as wars persist and security priorities dominate national agendas, that warning appears increasingly prescient.

From Ukraine to Gaza, and closer to home in South Asia, warfare is accelerating environmental degradation, undermining climate cooperation, and diverting scarce resources away from resilience and adaptation. If the next phase of global climate governance is to succeed, climate security must move to the centre of peace and security thinking. It is time to add geo-environment, alongside geopolitics and geo-economics, recognising that planetary health is now a core security concern.

In contemporary conflicts, the environment has become silent collateral damage. The war in Ukraine offers a stark example. Over three years of fighting have released what many analysts describe as a "carbon bomb". Estimates suggest that nearly 77 million tonnes of carbon dioxide were emitted in the first 18 months alone, with each additional month of conflict adding millions more through military operations, destroyed infrastructure and burning cities. Beyond emissions, Ukraine's Ministry of Environment has assessed environmental damage exceeding €56 billion. Across Europe, the war has also triggered a strategic........

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