<p>The worldwide ecological burden is gradually rising owing to humanoid activities, and reducing this burden through collective action is one of the top priorities today. Thus, socioeconomic factors that substantially influence the ecological burden are required&#xa0;to be identified. The defence sector has been observed to put significant pressure on the ecological burden. Therefore, this empirical investigation intends to explore the dynamic impact of defence outlays on ecological burdens to achieve ecological sustainability by improving the understanding of the association between defence outlays, their motives, and ecological harms. This study uses a worldwide sample of 71 developing and 50 developed countries from 2003 to 2022 to explore the dynamic nexus. The study employs the two-step system generalised method of moments&#xa0;(GMM) and the Discroll–Kraay (DK) fixed effect standard error regression (DK) to scrutinise the influence and outcomes. The findings of this empirical research reveal that defence outlays (DO) significantly increase the ecological burden (EB) in all categories through &#xa0;both&#xa0;direct and indirect effect channels. The level of impact on EB intensifies when cross-border tensions (CT) and violence interact with DO, but the interaction between CT and DO shows an insignificant relationship with EB in developed nations. This study also provides imperative policy inferences to reduce the worldwide ecological burden. It is suggested that the defence sector&#xa0;should initiate sustainable practices in the production process and encourage environmentally centred defence technologies. International cooperation should &#xa0;also&#xa0;be encouraged to introduce sustainable peacebuilding initiatives.</p>