{"id":82201,"date":"2026-03-18T19:07:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T18:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=82201"},"modified":"2026-03-19T17:23:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T16:23:46","slug":"iran-lebanon-war-environment-climate-impacts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/82201\/iran-lebanon-war-environment-climate-impacts\/","title":{"rendered":"The US-Israel war on Iran and how war and conflict are destroying the environment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The world has poured a record US$ 2.7 trillion into military spending<\/a> in 2024, with global spending rising every year for the past decade.

From Ukraine to Sudan, Gaza, Lebanon<\/a>, Iran and Venezuela, people are living through war, bombardment, occupation, militarisation or political violence, while the damage reaches far beyond the frontlines. Homes, hospitals, power grids, water systems, farmland and coastlines are all drawn into the same cycle of destruction, showing that conflict is not only a human tragedy but also an environmental one, with consequences for public health, ecosystems and climate that can last for decades.<\/p>\n\n

Like all wars, the current war in the Middle East will leave a toxic legacy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

War does not only kill people and destroy homes. It also damages the systems that make life possible<\/a>, including water networks, sewage plants, farmland, ports, fuel depots and electricity infrastructure, often leaving polluted air, contaminated soil and unsafe water long after the fighting slows. Across recent conflicts, research points to the same pattern: fires, toxic debris, damaged sanitation, collapsing public health systems and ecosystems pushed beyond recovery.<\/p>\n\n

This environmental harm is not incidental. It is one of the ways war reshapes daily life.<\/p>\n\n

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