How does nuclear weapons production impact the environment? What effects has nuclear testing had on ecosystems? How does radiation (from nuclear weapons) affect individual organisms and species populations? Can the environmental damage caused by nuclear weapons be remediated? What would nuclear war do to our natural environment? Could the money spent on nuclear weapons help protect the environment instead?

Could the money spent on nuclear weapons help protect the environment instead?

Answer

Nuclear weapons present a huge opportunity cost in terms of the vast sums of money wasted on these weapons of mass destruction every year.  In 2023, the nine-nuclear armed states spent $91.4 billion on their nuclear warheads and the missiles and bombs used to deliver them, funding a nuclear arms race that puts the entire planet at risk. What could we do if those exorbitant sums were actually used to address real needs instead, putting this money towards things that benefit humanity or protecting our environment? 

One minute of nuclear spending could pay for planting 1 million trees. One day of nuclear spending could fund 17.12 years of work to reverse the decline of pollinators. One year of nuclear weapons spending could pay for wind power for more than 12 million homes to help combat climate change, clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch for 187 years in a row, or cover the current global funding gap for halting biodiversity loss. The Global Biodiversity Framework, through which over 200 countries agreed to halt the decline in nature by the end of the decade, set a target of mobilising at least $200bn (£160bn) per year from public and private sources, but are currently around $80 bln short.

There are 91 billion better uses for that money than weapons of mass destruction. Help share your ideas on how that money could be used to protect nature here:

Join the $90 Billion Brainstorm