Including defence aspects in the EU’s nationally determined contributions as proposed in the EU climate change and defence roadmap (2022)

Question for written answer E-004403/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Martin Günther (The Left)

Greenhouse gas emissions from militaries make an enormous contribution to the global climate crisis. However, military emissions remain substantially under-reported in United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) national inventory reports.

One of the main reasons for this under-reporting is that parties to the UNFCCC are not required to separate military emissions under the relevant Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) categories. States have two primary options for reporting according to Chapter 8 of the 2019 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories: category 1.A.5. (other, not specified elsewhere), and 1.A.3.d.i. (military water-borne navigation). However, these categories frequently combine military and non-military data and are applied inconsistently.

The EU climate change and defence roadmap (2022), states that: 'for the EU and its Member States to continuously show leadership in international climate and environment policy and actions, the EU will work towards including defence aspects in the Nationally Determined Contributions'.

• 1.Can the Commission indicate what specific steps, if any, have been taken since the publication of the roadmap to ensure that defence-related emissions and climate actions are included in the EU's nationally determined contributions?
• 2.Does the Commission accept that an EU military emissions gap exists, between the total reported greenhouse gas emissions from military activities in Member States' national inventory reports and the real total of military emissions?

Submitted: 7.11.2025