Dear Inside Climate News Editing Team,
As the United States launched RIMPAC 2026—the world's largest naval war exercise—across the Pacific this month, Super Typhoon Bavi battered China and Pacific island nations, once again exposing how vulnerable the region is to the accelerating climate crisis. Yet one of the drivers of this crisis remains largely absent from mainstream coverage: militarism.
The U.S. military is the world's largest institutional emitter of greenhouse gases, and its escalating military buildup aimed at China is expanding bases, increasing naval exercises, and causing further environmental destruction across the Pacific. RIMPAC alone involves dozens of warships, submarines, aircraft, and tens of thousands of military personnel, consuming enormous resources while deepening tensions in a region already facing rising seas, stronger storms, and ecological devastation.
At the same time, Congress is advancing a staggering $1.5 trillion military budget, pouring public resources into weapons, military infrastructure, and preparations for war on China. Imagine what even a fraction of those funds could do if invested in sustainable climate solutions.
China has recently released an updated climate strategy through 2030 that focuses on integrating renewable energy throughout its economy. These developments highlight the urgent need for international cooperation. Yet the U.S. is moving in the opposite direction, introducing policies that restrict scientific collaboration with China and treating research cooperation as a national security threat. Such measures undermine our collective ability to develop the technologies and partnerships needed to confront global challenges like climate change.
Inside Climate News has published important reporting on China's renewable energy progress and the impacts of climate change. But the story is incomplete without examining how U.S. militarism and the growing drive toward war on China are worsening environmental destruction and diverting resources and attention away from the cooperation required to address the climate emergency.
We urge Inside Climate News to investigate and report on the environmental costs of U.S. militarism in the Pacific and the ways the new Cold War is undermining global climate action. If we are serious about confronting the climate crisis, we must also be willing to confront the systems of militarization that are making it worse.
Onward to peace,