The Inside Story Podcast Is war one of the biggest threats to the world’s climate?
Nov 10, 2025
Kate Mackintosh, an expert in international criminal law and ecocide advocacy, joins disaster risk specialist Elaine Donderer and resource governance director Farai Maguwu. They explore how wars in Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine release massive greenhouse gases, often overlooked at climate summits. Mackintosh explains the need for legal recognition of ecocide, while Donderer highlights the devastating environmental aftermath of conflicts. Maguwu discusses the political barriers to addressing these issues and how resource demands complicate recovery efforts.
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Ecocide Would Target Individual Responsibility
- The proposed crime of ecocide would criminalise large-scale environmental destruction in peace or war if codified.
- Prosecutors would need to prove an individual knew of a substantial risk of damage yet proceeded anyway.
Conflict Resources Drive Political Avoidance
- Farai Maguwu says powerful consumer states resist scrutiny because conflict minerals and extractive industries fuel their economies.
- He argues that raising environmental costs of conflict implicates major states and corporations, creating political resistance.
War Destroys Life-Support Systems
- Elaine Donderer links military destruction of water, sanitation and energy systems to long-term ecological collapse and health crises.
- She highlights transboundary pollution, unexploded ordnance and loss of wetlands as systemic climate and security risks.