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War, human rights and climate change: A lesson for secondary aged students.

This lesson was initially designed to accompany the Right Here Right Now summit at the University of Oxford, June 2025.

All lessons in the Climate Justice Education educational resources pack are available at: https://climate.web.ox.ac.uk/globalclimatesummit

Teacher notes are provided before the lesson and answers to questions/pedagogical suggestions are in the speaker notes.

This lesson is meant to take 20-25 minutes at minimum but can be expanded with further discussion.

Authors: Dr. Isobel Talks and Dr. Bill Finnegan

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Teacher Notes

5 mins – Slide 1: Register, students brainstorm how wars affect people beyond soldiers - don't just agree, we'll explore specific impacts on climate and rights

3 mins – Slide 2: Spotlight – youth voice on conflict in Kashmir

4 mins – Slide 3: Introduce the three key connections - these are often invisible impacts

4 mins – Slide 4: Case study discussion, facilitate by asking "what would you do?" questions

4 mins – Slide 5: Matching task, encourage students to think about cause and effect chains

4 mins – Slide 6: Writing task - have sentence starters ready for less confident students

1 min – Slide 7: Quick recap while dismissing class

Resources:

Mini whiteboards or paper

Copies of key statistics

Map showing conflict zones (optional)

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OPENING ACTIVITY

Today we're investigating how wars create hidden damage that affects everyone's future - including yours.

While you wait to start, think about this: Wars don't just harm the people fighting them.

On your whiteboard, write down one way you think conflicts in other countries might affect your life, even from far away.

E.g. Wars affect me because … food prices go up

Wars affect me because … my family worry about relatives abroad

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"From Ukraine to Palestine, Syria to Sudan, we see populations devastated by human-made crises, while the slow violence of climate change compounds their suffering. And back home in Kashmir, people are barely surviving under the weight of political uncertainty. How can we expect them to speak of climate action when the right to simply live is under threat?

Add to that the Himalayan region, which is among the most climate-vulnerable ecosystems on the planet. Melting glaciers, erratic precipitation, and extreme weather events not only threaten millions of lives downstream, but also risk igniting new conflicts over water, land, and survival. This is no longer a distant concern – it is here, and it is now."

Read a blog about Tabina's contribution to the summit.

Youth Spotlight: Oxford student Tabina Manzoor speaks on conflict, climate and human rights in Kashmir.

What are your key take-aways from Tabina's blog?

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Connection 1: Climate Damage

Wars release massive amounts of greenhouse gases - from military vehicles, destroyed infrastructure, and fires. The Russia-Ukraine war has already created 175 million tonnes of CO₂ - equivalent to putting 90 million new cars on the road.

Connection 2: Resource Competition

Countries often fight over oil, gas, and critical minerals needed for clean energy. This creates a cycle: fossil fuel dependence → resource conflicts → more environmental damage.

Connection 3: Rights Violations

War doesn't just violate the rights of soldiers and civilians in conflict zones. Climate damage from wars affects everyone's right to a healthy environment, especially young people who will live with the consequences longest.

Three Hidden Connections

When countries go to war, three major impacts spread far beyond the battlefield. These connections mean your human rights are linked to conflicts happening thousands of miles away.

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Case Study: Ukraine's Forced Green Transition

The Situation: Russia destroyed 85% of Ukraine's coal and gas power plants. Ukrainian communities had to quickly switch to solar panels and wind power to keep hospitals and schools running.

The Paradox:

Negative: War caused massive environmental damage
Positive: Forced switch to renewable energy that's harder for enemies to destroy
Question: Should this be called "disaster-driven progress"?

Research Insight: Ukraine accidentally compressed its planned energy transition from 30 years into 3 years - showing that rapid change is possible when necessary.

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Matching Task

Match each example to the correct connection. Use your whiteboards and be ready to explain your reasoning.

Connection A: Climate Damage Connection B: Resource Competition Connection C: Rights Violations

Example 1: Russian forces deliberately targeted Ukraine's power plants, forcing millions to live without electricity or heating during winter.

Example 2: Europe had to find new energy suppliers when they stopped buying Russian gas, leading to higher energy prices globally.

Example 3: The war's emissions will contribute to sea level rise affecting Pacific Island nations for decades.

Challenge question: Can you think of an example that shows ALL THREE connections at once?

Here are the answers to the matching task:

Example 1: Connection C - Rights Violations (Targeting power plants violates civilians' rights to basic services and security)

Example 2: Connection B - Resource Competition

(Europe seeking alternative energy suppliers shows competition for fossil fuel resources)

Example 3: Connection C - Rights Violations (Long-term climate impacts on Pacific Islands violate their rights to a healthy environment and potentially their right to exist as nations)

Note on Example 3: This could also reasonably be argued as Connection A (Climate Damage), since it directly discusses emissions and environmental impact. You might want to accept either answer with good justification, or use it as a discussion point about how these connections overlap.

Challenge Question Answer: Example 1 actually demonstrates all three connections:

Climate Damage (A): Destroyed power plants release emissions and require carbon-intensive reconstruction
Resource Competition (B): Russia targeted energy infrastructure partly to control Ukraine's energy resources
Rights Violations (C): Millions left without heat/power violates basic human rights

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Is it fair that Ukraine had to solve its energy problems during a war?
What does this tell us about how quickly countries could switch to clean energy in peacetime?
Should other countries help pay for Ukraine's green reconstruction?

E.g.

I think other countries should help pay because …

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How legal frameworks can help

Environmental lawyers have begun to join the dots between war and the climate crisis. They are helping to create laws that can help us bring about climate justice.

New legal frameworks can ensure that:

Aggressor countries pay for climate damage they cause
War emissions are counted in international climate agreements
Frozen assets from sanctioned countries fund green reconstruction

Discussion:

Why might it be difficult to make countries pay for "climate damages" from war?

The statute currently addresses environmental damage in the context of armed conflict, but this would prosecute severe environmental destruction in peacetime as well.

Vanuatu, Fiji, and Samoa proposed adding ecocide to the Rome Statute in 2024.

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Reflection Task

Choose ONE statement below and write 4-5 sentences explaining why you agree with it:

Statement A: "Countries that start wars should automatically pay for all the climate damage they cause, just like they would pay for physical damage."

Statement B: "It's impossible to fairly calculate 'climate damage' from wars - the connections are too complicated and indirect."

Statement C: "Young people's rights are being violated by war emissions, even if they live in peaceful countries far from any conflict."

Sentence starters if you need them:

I agree with this because ... However, one problem might be

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Looking Forward

Today's Key Insights:

Wars create climate damage that affects everyone globally
Young people bear the longest-term costs of conflict emissions
New legal frameworks could hold countries accountable for "climate crimes"
Sometimes crisis forces faster positive change than normal politics

The Big Question: Is conflict causing climate change or is climate change causing conflict?

Exit Ticket: Write one thing that surprised you today about the connection between war and climate change.