Dear colleagues

On Monday this week, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute released its latest research figures for military spending. They found that in 2006, the world spent $1,204,000 million (ie $1.2 trillion) on the military. [1] This is the eighth consecutive annual rise in military spending, which is now reaching levels not seen since the Cold War. [2]

The US accounted for 46% of the total in 2006, at $528,700 million (at 2005 prices). [3]

After the US, the largest military spender was once again the UK, which accounted for 5% of the world total in 2006, at $59,200 million (at 2005 prices). [3] This is despite the government's belief that, 'There is currently no major conventional threat to Europe...' [4]

France, China, Japan, Germany, Russia, Italy, Saudi Arabia and India complete the highest ten spenders, together accounting for 77% of all military spending worldwide, at $888,700 million (at 2005 prices). [3]
This is exactly twice the amount that the UK's Stern Review estimated it will cost the world to stop runaway climate change, at $444,000 million per year (1% of global GDP). [5] It is eighteen times the estimated current shortfall in the spending needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals to reduce global poverty significantly by 2015. (This shortfall is estimated at $48,000 million and the overall cost for achieving the Goals is estimated at $135,000-195,000 million per year to 2015.) [6]

In 2005, the US spent 19 times as much on the military ($534,100 million) as on overseas development assistance ($27,622 million); the UK spent almost five times as much on the military ($53,600 million) as on overseas development assistance ($10,767 million) [7] [Note: these are comparisons for 2005, which is the most recent year for which statistics for overseas development assistance are available].

In 2005, the UK spent 50 times as much on the military ($53,600 million) as on 'spending policies that tackle climate change' (£545 million [= $1,072 million]). [8] [Note: these are comparisons for 2005, which is the most recent year for which statistics for overseas development assistance are available]. The military is responsible for high levels of carbon emissions. According to Scientists for Global Responsibility, the US military causes about 60 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions (1% of national total or equivalent to all of Finland's annual emissions); the UK military causes about 5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions (1% of national total or equivalent to all of Senegal's annual emissions). [9]

[1] SIPRI, http://www.sipri.org/contents/milap/milex/mex_trends.html

[2] SIPRI, http://www.sipri.org/contents/milap/milex/mex_world_graph.html

[3] SIPRI, http://www.sipri.org/contents/milap/milex/mex_major_spenders.pdf

[4] MoD, http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/051AF365-0A97-4550-99C0-4D87D7C95DED/0/cm6041I_whitepaper2003.pdf

[5] HM Treasury, http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/8AC/F7/Executive_Summary.pdf>

[6] UN Millennium Project, http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/overviewEng55-65LowRes.pdf

[7] OECD, http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/52/18/37790990.pdf

[8] Hansard, http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200506/ldhansrd/vo051010/text/51010w04.htm

[9] SGR, http://www.sgr.org.uk/ArmsControl/NfPAGMnotes_feb07.html

Yours in peace

David Gee

Kat Barton and David Gee
Joint Managers, Peace & Disarmament Programme
Quaker Peace & Social Witness
Friends House, 173 Euston Road
London NW1 2BJ
T: 020 7663 1067 E: disarm@quaker.org.uk
W: http://www.quaker.org.uk/qpsw and http://www.peaceexchange.org.uk

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