Blog

Why we’ll be at COP26

1. Militarism diverts crucial resources from the climate emergency After the failure of the G7 to reach meaningful agreement under UK leadership, there is serious concern for the vital COP26 negotiations. Government spending to reduce UK carbon emissions is dwarfed by new spending on weapons of war. 2. The military Industrial complex is fuelling climate …

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Afghanistan: Counting the cost

Today marks the final withdrawal of coalition forces from Afghanistan after almost 20 years. What did the conflict cost us and what lessons does it provide for ‘Global Britain’? Human suffering It would be callous to discuss resource and opportunity costs before first reflecting on the monumental human cost of the conflict, in particular that …

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UK nuclear weapons spending 2020

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) today released it’s report into world wide spending on nuclear weapons in 2020. The report found that despite the pandemic, spending on weapons of mass destruction actually increased by $1.4 billion to an eyewatering $72.6 billion. According to the report the United Kingdom spent £4.46 billion ($6.2 …

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GDAMS 2021 – What Happened in the UK?

We had an incredible response from GCOMS campaigners and supporting groups across the UK as part of the Global Days of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS) this year, below are a few of the highlights. Street demonstrations We weren’t just limited to online campaigning despite the continued lockdown, with a number of in person events …

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UN GDAMS statement – put people before runaway military spending

Op-ed on Military Expenditures, Gender Equality and the Women, Peace and Security agenda By: Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, and Ms. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngucka, Executive Director of UN Women For all of us, but especially women, the pandemic is a reminder that traditional notions of “security” that fuel the weapons industry cannot …

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Global Gdams media release

170 Civil Society Organizations from 33 different countries demand that governments around the world drastically reduce their military expenditures, which reached almost 2 trillion $ in 2020, a 2.6% increase over the previous year. World military expenditure amounted to $1981 billion in 2020, a 2.6% increase over the previous year. In 2020, the biggest spenders …

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Media release: NGOs urge rethink over military spending

26 April 2021. UK campaigning organisations are urging the government to rethink its military spending decisions in the light of the pandemic and the climate emergency. Figures released today by the world-renowned Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) show that global military spending in 2020 increased by 2.6% to $1981 billion and the UK’s military …

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GDAMS 2021 Appeal

GLOBAL DAYS OF ACTION ON MILITARY SPENDING (GDAMS) The world spent $1.92 trillion on the military in 2019, a 3.6% increase over the previous year and the highest figure since the end of the Cold War. Our governments’ ever-growing military capacities, in the name of national security, have proved themselves completely useless to defend people …

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