Published: December 30, 2025
As 2025 draws to a close, a staggering financial divide has been exposed. Today, UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivered a historic New Year message that highlighted a disturbing milestone: $2.7 trillion global military spending.
In a groundbreaking move to reach a wider audience, the message was released in Hindi, emphasizing that the world is currently spending 13 times more on “destruction” than on building peace and climate resilience.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warns that we are choosing ‘destruction over development.’ This record military spending comes at a time when the 2025 Hottest Year Climate Report has confirmed a dangerous breach of the 1.5°C threshold, proving that our financial priorities are dangerously misaligned with planetary survival.”
The Opportunity Cost of War
The $2.7 trillion global military spending represents a record 10% year-on-year increase. The UN report, “The Security We Need,” argues that we do not have a resource problem; we have a priority problem. Reallocating just a fraction of this budget could solve our most pressing issues:
- 15% ($387 billion) would fully cover annual climate adaptation for all developing nations.
- 4% ($93 billion) is all that’s needed to end world hunger by 2030.
The Climate Connection
This military surge comes at the worst possible time for the environment. As the 1.5°C threshold is breached, the carbon footprint of global militaries continues to grow. Each dollar spent on the military generates over twice the emissions of a dollar invested in clean energy.
Guterres’ 2026 ultimatum is clear: “Choose people and planet over pain.”