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Global Military Spending vs. Sustainable Development
Context: With global military spending hitting a record $2.7 trillion in 2024 (SIPRI), the UN warns that excessive focus on arms is diverting resources from urgent priorities like poverty eradication, climate adaptation, and healthcare, especially as the SDG annual financing gap stands at $4 trillion.
Present state of SDGs
- UN SDG Report 2025: Only 1 in 5 targets across the 17 goals is on track.
- Widespread challenges remain, especially in poverty, hunger, climate adaptation, and inequality.
SDG Index 2024 (SDSN): India ranked 112th, facing challenges in SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 3 (Health), and SDG 13 (Climate Action).
How do high military expenditures affect the development priorities?
The UN report The Security We Need (2025) notes that such expenditures are derailing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by diverting resources away from urgent needs such as poverty eradication, healthcare, education, and climate adaptation.
- For instance, just 10% of global military spending could close the extreme poverty gap and fully vaccinate every child worldwide.
- Likewise, 3.5% could eliminate global hunger, while 5% could provide universal access to safe water and sanitation in 140 low- and middle-income countries.
- Arms races trap states in cycles of mistrust, slow economic growth, and weaken both human development and lasting security.
- UNDP stresses that development deficits directly fuel insecurity, creating a vicious cycle of poverty and militarisation.
- The Economic Survey 2022–23 highlighted how fiscal resources, when channelled into health, education, and infrastructure, create strong multiplier effects for growth and stability—an opportunity cost foregone when funds are militarised.
What measures are required to reduce military spending and increase human-centric allocation of funds?
- Integrating Military Budgets into Disarmament Talks: UN calls for transparent defence budgeting to rebuild trust.
- Multilateral Commitments: Advanced economies spend 30 times more on militaries than on climate finance; rebalancing this through predictable climate funds can strengthen resilience in developing nations.
- Reprioritisation of Expenditure: As per the Economic Survey 2023–24, India’s investments in infrastructure and health have shown high social returns, a model for other nations to follow.
- Diplomacy over Militarisation: Strengthening international cooperation reduces conflict, lowering the security-driven push for arms build-up.
