War and military activity
62 cases in 32 countries, 1943–2026. Most cases: Ukraine (19), Iran (9), Russia (8), United States (7), Iraq (5).
Desalination plants hit in the 2026 war: Qeshm Island and Bahrain
Iran's foreign minister said a strike hit a desalination plant on Qeshm Island on 7 March 2026 and cut freshwater to 30 villages; Bahraini officials said an Iranian drone damaged a Bahraini plant on 8 March. CEOBS described the environmental risks of damage to the Gulf's roughly 450 desalination plants.
Iran's 2026 war-damage estimate of about USD 270bn and its calls for compensation and environmental accountability
Iran's government put direct and indirect damage from the war that began on 28 February 2026 at about USD 270bn, an early estimate with no breakdown. In October 2026 its foreign minister called for "responsibility and compensation" for wartime environmental damage.
Strikes on Iranian oil and gas facilities, June 2025 and March 2026, and damage at Qatar's Ras Laffan
CEOBS described fires and damage at the Tehran refinery, South Pars Phase 14 and the Fajr Jam gas plant in June 2025. On 18 March 2026 Iranian state media reported strikes on South Pars gas plants at Asaluyeh, and QatarEnergy later estimated a roughly USD 20bn annual revenue loss from damage at Ras Laffan.
Strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, 2025 and 2026: IAEA statements on contamination and the Bushehr reactor
The IAEA's Director General said in June 2025 that radioactivity outside Natanz was at normal levels while radiological and chemical contamination inside the facility was possible. In March and April 2026 statements by the IAEA, Rosatom, Iran's Atomic Energy Organization and Iran's foreign minister addressed a projectile hit and strikes near the Bushehr power station.
Strikes on Tehran fuel depots, March 2026: smoke, black rain and Iran's "ecocide" claim
Four fuel depots in and near Tehran were attacked on 7 March 2026; Israel's military said it targeted fuel storage complexes belonging to the IRGC. Satellite imagery showed plumes and destroyed tanks, UNEP and WHO warned of inhaled smoke and black, acidic rain, and Iran called the strikes "ecocide".
Vegetable-oil and fuel spills after strikes on Odesa-region ports, December 2025–April 2026
Strikes on export ports at Pivdennyi and Chornomorsk in December 2025 and April 2026 released vegetable oil into the sea. The Tuzly Lagoons park estimated more than 1,000 dead birds; no case-specific damage sum is on record.
Drone strike on the Chornobyl New Safe Confinement, 14 February 2025, and the repair funding
A drone struck the New Safe Confinement over the destroyed Unit 4 of the Chornobyl plant on 14 February 2025. The IAEA reported, as relayed by NucNet, that the structure had lost its primary safety functions; the EBRD put the repair cost at no less than EUR 500 million and Ukraine's Energy Ministry at EUR 412 million.
Gaza reconstruction and the Board of Peace's first contract
The first construction contract issued under the Board of Peace for Gaza was for a military post, ahead of a USD 2.45 billion plan. Researchers and UN agencies have put figures on the war's emissions, the rubble and the cost of recovery.
Register of Damage for Ukraine, the Claims Commission convention and the money meant to pay claims
The Council of Europe’s Register of Damage for Ukraine opened all 43 claim categories, including B3.1 Environmental damage, on 30 September 2026. The Convention for an International Claims Commission was not in force, with 10 of 25 ratifications reported, and no compensation fund existed.
Suspicion notices over UAH 49.2 million in farmland demining contracts, Mykolaiv oblast
On 22 June 2026 Ukrainian investigators reported that six people had been notified of suspicion over humanitarian demining of agricultural land that, according to investigators, was not carried out. The damage to the state was stated as UAH 49.2 million; no court outcome is on record.
White phosphorus fires burned farmland across southern Lebanon
Al Majalla reported that white phosphorus caused 812 fires and burned 2.4 million m2 of farmland in southern Lebanon. The cited sources do not describe soil or wildlife effects.
Al-Jaili refinery fires and wartime damage in Khartoum, 2023–2025
Repeated fires and strikes damaged the Al-Jaili refinery north of Khartoum, Sudan's largest, jointly owned by the Sudanese government and CNPC. The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) each attributed the January 2025 fire to the other; AP wrote that neither side offered evidence.
Gezira irrigation scheme: wartime losses in Al Gezira State
Satellite analysis and agency figures record a fall in crop health, diverted and flooded canals, a 58% fall in wheat production and at least 6,126 ha of natural vegetation lost in Al Gezira State after fighting reached Sudan's largest irrigation scheme in 2023.
Destruction of the Kakhovka dam and drainage of the Kakhovka reservoir (June 2023)
The dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant on the Dnipro was breached on 6 June 2023 and the reservoir drained within about two weeks. Ukraine and Russia each attribute the destruction to the other; UN and World Bank-led assessments put the ecosystem-service losses at US$6.4 billion to US$14.1 billion.
German waters hold 1.6 million tonnes of munitions; Baltic to be disposal pilot
EUWID reported that German waters hold about 1.6 million tonnes of munitions, with 100 million euros allocated for disposal up to 2025. The cited sources do not set out the effect on the marine environment.
Ukraine’s official count of war damage to the environment
Ukraine’s State Environmental Inspectorate calculates, and the environment ministry and the Ombudsman publish, a running money total for environmental damage the state attributes to Russia’s armed aggression. The ministry reported UAH 6.01 trillion on 4 December 2025 and more than UAH 7 trillion on 23 June 2026; no payment has been made against the figures.
War-related greenhouse-gas emissions and Ukraine’s planned climate damage claim
The Initiative on GHG Accounting of War (IGGAW) put war-related emissions at 311.4 MtCO2e for 24 February 2022 to 23 February 2026 and priced them at USD 185 per tonne. Ukraine’s ministry has said it will file a climate damage claim against Russia in the Register of Damage; no filing is on record.
Ukraine’s criminal proceedings over wartime environmental harm
Ukrainian prosecutors have registered many proceedings over wartime environmental harm, mostly under Article 438, and few under Article 441 (ecocide). Five Russian officers were charged in absentia over the shelling of the Neutron Source facility in Kharkiv; one court conviction over the Askania-Nova reserve was under war-crime provisions.
Ukraine's mine contamination, the farmland demining programme and mine-action money
Ukrainian authorities put the area potentially contaminated with mines and explosive remnants of war at over 130,000 km² in April 2026, and the World Bank put the cost of explosive hazard management and debris clearance at almost USD 28 billion in February 2026. The state farmland programme had concluded 175 contracts covering almost 34,000 hectares by October 2026, and the US-Ukraine fund signed its first minerals deal on 2-3 October 2026.
Munition residues and war damage in Ukrainian soils: measurements and state damage assessments
Peer-reviewed studies of soils in Kharkiv and Kirovohrad oblasts and a screening of frontline and urban areas measured heavy metals and explosive residues at impact sites, and Ukraine's State Ecological Inspectorate assessed soil damage at almost UAH 20 billion for pollution and over UAH 1,169 billion for littering of land resources.
Black Sea dolphin and porpoise deaths since 2022
Monitoring networks counted hundreds of dead dolphins and porpoises on Black Sea coasts in 2022, and published estimates of total deaths range from 37,500 to about 100,000, depending on the method. Ukrainian, Turkish, Bulgarian and Russian-side specialists give different causes.
Ammonia release at Sumykhimprom (Sumy) and nitric-acid explosions at Rubizhne, 2022
On 21 March 2022 an ammonia tank at the Sumykhimprom plant in Sumy released gas; in April 2022 explosions at a grain-elevator complex in Rubizhne sent nitrogen-oxide plumes into the air. Ukraine's Prosecutor General notified five Russian officers of suspicion over the Sumy release; Russia's Ministry of Defence gave a different account.
Azovstal, Mariupol and the Sea of Azov, 2022–
The Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol was heavily damaged during the siege of April–May 2022. CEOBS cites pre-war studies that named its wastewater as the largest single pollution source into the Sea of Azov; no post-2022 water data is on record, and Metinvest's applications to the ECHR state no amounts.
Fuel-depot fires at Kalynivka, Kriachky and Lutsk, 2022
Fires at three Ukrainian fuel depots in February and March 2022 were measured by CEOBS, Zoï and UNEP and valued by the State Environmental Inspectorate; for the Kriachky depot the Inspectorate calculated damage of UAH 930 million.
Wildfires in Ukraine's war zone and on the Kinburn Spit, 2022–2025
Satellite-based counts put the area burned in Ukraine at about 500,000 ha in 2022, 226,000 ha in 2023, 965,000 ha in 2024 and 660,000 ha in 2025, with fires concentrated along the front line. On the Kinburn Spit, under occupation, the Ministry of Environmental Protection reported over 5,000 ha of a national park affected by 131 fires by 11 May 2023.
Sviati Hory National Nature Park, Donetsk Oblast, 2022–
Ukraine's Ministry of Environmental Protection stated on 2 August 2024 that the war had destroyed about 80% of the forest plantings of Sviati Hory National Nature Park, that about 9,500 ha of forest had been burned, and that its preliminary damage estimate was UAH 16 billion.
Askania-Nova Biosphere Reserve under occupation, 2022–
Ukrainian officials estimate damage of UAH 85.2 million for the removal of rare animals from the Askania-Nova Biosphere Reserve in occupied Kherson Oblast. In February 2025 Ukrainian prosecutors sent to court an indictment charging the occupation-appointed head of the reserve.
Chornobyl Exclusion Zone: Russian occupation of 2022 and fires, 2022–2026
Russian forces held the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone from 24 February 2022 until the end of March 2022. Ukrainian agencies reported looted laboratories and lost machinery, and a peer-reviewed satellite study found about 70 km² burned in March 2022; further fires followed in 2024 and 2026.
Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant under Russian control, 2022–2026
Russian forces have held the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe's largest, since March 2022. The IAEA's reports, relayed by BASE, record repeated losses of off-site power and a falling cooling-pond level after the Kakhovka dam was destroyed; Energoatom reported losses of UAH 598.9 billion in lost revenue and delivered a USD 3 billion treaty dispute notice to Russia.
US Defense Department PFAS costs top USD 9.3 billion at 718 installations
The US Government Accountability Office reported that Defense Department PFAS costs reached USD 9.3 billion or more and tripled since 2022. None of the 718 installations is yet in long-term cleanup, while the Department promotes its land as a refuge for wildlife.
US PACT Act: $281.5bn for veterans exposed to burn pits, none for Iraqi civilians
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the US PACT Act would cost about $281.5 billion through 2031 for veterans exposed to burn pit smoke. The cited sources report no compensation mechanism for Iraqi civilians exposed to the same smoke.
Cosmos 1408 anti-satellite test (Russia)
On 15 November 2021 Russia destroyed its own satellite Cosmos 1408 with a missile in low Earth orbit. The test produced 1,807 catalogued pieces of debris, and the International Space Station crew sheltered in their spacecraft.
Army removes 130 tonnes of solid waste from Siachen glacier
The Indian Army removed 130 tonnes of solid waste from the Siachen glacier in September 2019, Business Standard reported, to protect the glacier's ecosystem. The cited sources do not say how much waste remains.
Tumeremo killings and armed control of gold mines in Bolívar
On 4 March 2016 at least 17 people were killed near the Bulla de Atenas gold mine in Bolívar state. Twelve alleged members of the El Topo sindicato were charged; no verdict is on record. UN bodies describe armed groups collecting a share of mined ore across the Orinoco Mining Arc.
Oil-facility fires and leaks in Libya's conflict: Es Sider, Ras Lanuf, Zawiya
Libya's National Oil Corporation and Reuters reported fires at oil storage tanks at Es Sider and Ras Lanuf in 2014–2018 and gunfire damage, a pipeline leak and drone-attack fires at Zawiya in 2024–2026. A 2026 study of Zawiya refinery sampling reported hydrocarbon concentrations of up to 43 mg/L offshore.
Sudan gum arabic belt: wartime production losses and EU and GCF funding
Sudan's annual gum arabic production fell from 150,000 tons to 60,000 tons because of the conflict, according to the UN Panel of Experts, which also reported traders' accounts of about 3,700 tons "looted" in Darfur in the first half of 2024 and attributed it to the RSF, allied militias and SLA/MM. The EU and the Green Climate Fund had committed money to the gum belt, including a USD 9,975,000 GCF grant.
Marange diamonds and the Kimberley Process (Zimbabwe)
Human Rights Watch reported that soldiers killed more than 200 miners at the Marange diamond field in 2008. The Kimberley Process approved Marange exports in 2011, because its definition of a conflict diamond covers only rebel financing.
Sudan gold: mercury and cyanide in mining, and the wartime gold trade
Artisanal gold mining and tailings processing in Sudan use mercury and cyanide; sampling at the Abu Hamad mining market in January 2023 measured mercury in soil up to 34.8 mg/kg. After the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began in 2023, the US Treasury designated gold-linked companies and said that gold had become a source of revenue for the RSF.
Fengyun-1C anti-satellite test
On 11 January 2007 China destroyed its Fengyun-1C weather satellite with a missile. The catalogue lists 3,532 pieces from the event, of which 2,312 were still in orbit on 15 October 2026.
Degelen Mountain plutonium security operation (United States–Kazakhstan–Russia)
A US-managed, three-country operation secured plutonium left in test tunnels and boreholes at the Degelen massif of the former Semipalatinsk Test Site. The White House put the estimated cost at $150 million over eight years; a Belfer Center report describes a 17-year, $150 million operation.
Sary-Shagan test range lease to Russia: rent, a 1992–1996 compensation clause and an ecological commission
Russia leases the Sary-Shagan military test range in Kazakhstan under 1995 and 1996 treaties. Annual rent has been $16.276 million since 1 January 2016; the 1996 treaty fixes compensation of $99.85 million for 1992–1996 property losses and expenses and provides for a joint commission on the range’s ecological consequences, to be remedied at the lessee’s expense.
Gulf War compensation (UNCC) and Kuwait oil-damage remediation
A UN commission was set up after the 1991 Gulf War to handle claims against Iraq. Soil remediation in Kuwait was still producing new contracts in 2025, with remediation contracts of USD 949 million in 2021 and USD 460 million in 2023.
UN Compensation Commission "F4" environmental claims by Iran for the 1990–91 Gulf War
Iran filed environmental claims with the UN Compensation Commission for smoke, oil and refugee-related damage it said reached its south and south-west from the 1990–91 Gulf War. The F4 Panel recommended awards in four instalments; most of the long-term remediation claims received no award.
Australian government settled PFAS claims at three defence bases and sued 3M
Australia's federal government settled class actions over PFAS foam contamination near the Katherine, Williamtown and Oakey defence bases in 2020, and later sued 3M for more than A$2bn. The sources say taxpayers have borne the cost so far, with no recovery from the foam makers reported before that suit.
Australian government settles firefighting foam suits near three military bases
The Australian Department of Defence settled class actions in 2020 over firefighting foam used at the Katherine, Williamtown and Oakey bases, which concerned losses in property value. The settlement amount reported by the Katherine Times is unconfirmed.
Shell Rocky Mountain Arsenal insurance case
Shell Oil's coverage case over the Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Colorado reached a California appeals court in 1993. The court upheld the insurers for policies with pollution exclusions and sent the 'expected damage' question back for retrial.
Nowruz oil-field spill, 1983–1985
An offshore oil release in Iran's Nowruz field in 1983 was prolonged by wartime attacks, and capping was delayed because the field lay in the Iran–Iraq war zone. NOAA and CEDRE give different start dates and volumes; no cost or compensation figure is on record.
Great Man-Made River Project (Libya) and the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer
Libya's Great Man-Made River draws non-renewable fossil groundwater from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System through pipelines to the coast. A NATO strike near the Brega pipe plant in July 2011 and damage to wells in 2018–2019 affected the system, which about 1.5 million people relied on in 2019, according to the UN.
Iran–Iraq war (1980–88): environmental damage recorded by the UN expert team in 1991 and Iran's damage estimate
A UN expert team sent under Security Council resolution 598 recorded Iran's account of war damage in 1991, including tar on more than 250 km of beaches and an Iranian government assessment of USD 97,248 million in non-military damage. No compensation mechanism for the war is on record; Iranian lawmakers later raised reparations demands.
Landmines and explosive remnants of the Iran–Iraq war in Iran's western provinces
Mined and contaminated land left by the 1980–88 war in five provinces bordering Iraq is being cleared by a state programme and by commercial operators in oil and gas areas. Official contamination figures differ widely between years, and Iran's mine action centre declined to provide data in 2025.
French nuclear tests in the Algerian Sahara: buried waste, maps and compensation
France states it carried out 17 nuclear tests in the Algerian Sahara between 1960 and 1966. Of 4,455 claims registered by France's compensation committee CIVEN in 2010–2025, 73 came from residents of Algeria, and one of the 1,206 claims CIVEN accepted by decision was from a resident of Algeria.
Semipalatinsk test site: state compensation to residents under Kazakhstan’s 1992 law
A 1992 Kazakh law sets one-time payments, wage and pension supplements and extra leave for people who lived in zones affected by fallout from Soviet nuclear tests. The payments come from Kazakhstan’s own budgets; the Ministry of Labour reported KZT 16.4bn paid to more than 1.1 million people in 1996–2020.
Semipalatinsk test site: measured contamination, land reallocation and the Nuclear Safety Zone
Surveys of the former Soviet test site found 429 km² of the 1,200 km² observed at Degelen and Aktan-Berli radioactively contaminated. Since 2013 Kazakhstan has moved former test-site land back into use and, from 2023, has been setting up a Nuclear Safety Zone funded by KZT 3.596bn through 2027.
Bikini Atoll resettlement trust fund
A trust fund set up by the US Congress for the people displaced by nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll fell from about $60 million in 2018 to $89,002 on 30 June 2024. The Bikini council and four individuals have sued the fund's manager in Delaware; the manager's position is not in the cited sources.
Bikini reef partly recovered after US nuclear tests; islanders still displaced
US nuclear tests at Bikini and Enewetak from 1946 to 1958 displaced islanders, and a 2008 study found that about 70% of former coral species had returned to the reef. The resettlement fund fell from 59 million dollars to about 100,000 by 2023, and descendants still live on Kili, where freshwater is expected to be salted by waves.
Sellafield decommissioning and Hanford cleanup budgets
Two state-funded nuclear clean-up programmes, Hanford in the United States and Sellafield in the United Kingdom, carry cost estimates of hundreds of billions of dollars and many decades of work. At Hanford, contractors settled False Claims Act cases in 2016 and 2020.
Nuclear test exposure at Moruroa reported at about ten times official estimate
Investigative reporting by Disclose and Princeton said the number of people exposed to the Moruroa nuclear tests in French Polynesia was about ten times the official estimate. The cited sources do not give the test years or any compensation outcome.
Pollution at Subic and Clark linked to deaths; US says it has no clean-up duty
The United States argues it has no clean-up obligation at the former Subic and Clark bases in the Philippines, where military pollution has been linked to deaths. The cited sources do not describe the contamination itself, so its extent is not established.
Panama asks US to clean up chemical weapons and munitions it left behind
Panama has asked the United States to clean up chemical weapons and munitions it left on an island, and is having the work done with its own budget. The cited sources do not state the cost, the exact sites or the extent of the contamination.
Vieques and Culebra military clean-up expected to cost about $800 million
The US military's clean-up of Vieques and Culebra in Puerto Rico is expected to cost about $800 million and to last until 2032. NBC News reported that about 32,000 bombs had been removed. The cited sources do not describe the land or water affected.
Gorongosa's large-mammal biomass largely recovered after war-time collapse
Large-mammal biomass in Gorongosa, Mozambique, fell by more than 90% during the war and has largely returned, a 2019 study reports. The share of elephant, hippo and buffalo fell from 89% to 23%, so the recovery is uneven across species.
UNEP estimate: about 2,000 tons of depleted uranium used in Iraq
Noon Post, citing a UNEP estimate, reported that about 2,000 tons of depleted uranium were used in Iraq. The cited sources do not describe any completed clean-up.