Military spending has been increasing for more than a decade, reaching $2.7tr in 2024 and $2.88tr in 2025. Meanwhile, there is a $4tr dollar shortfall in funding needed to achieve the world’s Sustainable Development Goals and, of that, a $2tr funding gap for climate and energy transition action.

A new report, ‘The Double Dividend: How Reducing Military Spending Can Finance a Just Transition‘, examines the deep structural links between militarism, fossil fuel dependence and the climate crisis. Spending by the largest militaries was 30 times greater than the climate finance currently being directed towards the world’s most vulnerable nations, says the report.

The Double Dividend from the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative makes the case that reducing military expenditure is one of the most significant – and most politically avoided – levers available to finance a just global transition away from fossil fuels.