Innovative Technologies and Renewed Policies for Achieving a Greener Defence

As climate change advances, armed forces and other defence actors will increasingly need to understand how their strategy and operational conduct will be affected. At the same time, the defence sector will also need to device new policies and actions aimed at reducing their environmental footprint. This chapter will point out the relevance of climate and environmental issues to armed forces while also providing an introduction to the themes of the book, which examines the key aspects of shaping a more sustainable defence sector. It will first note some of the work that has already been done, for example in the frame of the Climate Change and Security Action Plan of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It will then outline the starting points and aims of the book, highlighting the interdisciplinary range of perspectives that has produced a comprehensive overview of the most pressing issues related to green defence. Finally, the chapter will briefly summarize the themes and main arguments of all the chapters included in the book.

During the 2021 NATO Summit in Brussels, the Atlantic Alliance stated that it wants to become the leading organization in understanding and mitigating the security implications of climate change, while presenting the Climate Change and Security Action Plan. This is an ambitious goal, but one that NATO can achieve since the Alliance’s focus on climate change is not new, but has its roots in the organization’s past. Indeed, this paper traces past efforts by NATO, which has worked over the years to increase both awareness of these issues and the tools and methodologies available to mitigate the security effects of climate change. From this point of view, the NATO Green Defence Framework of 2014 was an important step in fostering cooperation between Allies and between the different organs of the Alliance. However, it lacked a clear definition of the nexus between climate change and security, a nexus clarified by the 2021 Climate Change and Security Action Plan. The latter represents a further step towards developing a comprehensive four-pillar approach, based on awareness, adaptation, mitigation and outreach. This plan further lays the foundation for the future, actually accrediting NATO as the potential leading organization in this field.

Defence needs to understand the implications of climate change – the needs of security, the adaptation of its equipment and the need to reduce emissions and become more sustainable. Strategies, plans and equipment must, as always, be adapted; and this also includes adapting to a new and harsher environment within which Defence will be operating.

Climate change represents both a threat and an opportunity, which Defence should be prepared for. This does not need to be a zero sum game – either green or capable. There are many opportunities where adopting a green approach, understanding the effects of climate change and the technology being developed to adapt to and mitigate its effects, can result in a more capable force – either directly through adoption of new technologies or indirectly through opportunities to become more self-sufficient and resilient.

With the increased likelihood of conflict around the world as a direct or indirect result of climate change, acting both as a threat multiplier and a shaping threat, Defence has an opportunity and potentially important role to act as a global leader in understanding, acting to build resilience and to prevent conflict in the first place.

Over the last few years, the Italian Ministry of Defence has embarked on a path to make the activities carried out by the Italian Armed Forces more sustainable and mindful of environmental impacts. This initiative, which is mainly based on considerations related to strengthening energy security and critical national energy infrastructures, has become increasingly structured over time, culminating in the publication in 2019 of the Defence Energy Strategy, a document that serves as a guideline and that summarizes the main initiatives implemented by the Ministry. In this context, attention is being focused on different sectors, but the energy efficiency of buildings and infrastructures owned and operated by the Italian Armed Forces is the most important line of action. Other areas of intervention include the development of sustainable mobility, especially in urban and non-operational contexts, and the creation of an energy-oriented mindset and of a more conscious and attentive mentality towards these issues, both at personnel and senior officer level.

Climate change threatens people and societies around the world, and its impacts will only worsen in the future. In order to address these threats, it is necessary to develop concrete climate security policies as well as preparedness mechanisms. This paper will look at the ways in which climate change is integrated into the Finnish model of comprehensive security. Comprehensive security is based on a cooperative approach to preparedness, and it aims to ensure that vital functions of the society are secured also in crisis situations. As such, the model provides potential for developing climate security practices that are based on cooperative efforts and comply with democratic decision-making. The paper argues that specific shortcomings in the implementation of the comprehensive model have so far hindered the integration of climate security, but overcoming these could benefit both climate-related preparedness and the capacity of the model overall. The paper goes on to point out that climate security impacts are difficult to predict due to their complex character, and they should therefore be systematically included in foresight activities. Finally, the paper proposes a number of recommendations for better integrating climate change into comprehensive security and preparedness work in general.

In a context where energy security is at risk and energy demand is surging, it is worthy asking what energy model needs to be followed to build a clean and resilient future, to ensure energy security without jeopardizing the commitments made under the Paris Agreement. In fact, oil, coal and natural gas still meet most global energy needs, creating serious implications for the environment, while increasing vulnerability to geopolitical shocks and disruptions in fossil fuel markets. Framing energy and climate policies into this complementary paradigm requires a forward-looking and strategic approach, capable of anticipating future developments, especially when it comes to the geopolitical consequences of energy transition. Against this backdrop, this Chapter explores the interlink between energy and climate security, with a special focus on the European Union and African countries. It seeks to answer the following questions: (i) How can the EU ensure energy security by capitalising on its green agenda? (ii) What are the implications of global decarbonization for African countries? (iii) What does the clean energy mean for mineral production in Africa? (iv) What are the opportunities raising from energy transition for the EU-African cooperation?

How can the Defence industry contribute to the green transition? This paper will try to answer this question by highlighting the possible contribution of the Defence industry to the transition towards a greener and more sustainable world. Five direct means of contributions are identified: the development and deployment of new sustainable technologies and capabilities that can contribute to the green transition; the investment in R&D and technological innovation to support and enhance such transition; the reduction of carbon emissions of the industry itself, its supply chain and its final customers; the efficient management of energy consumption and a transition towards more sustainable energy resources; and, in the end, the possibility for the Defence industry to assume the role of enabler of the green transition in supporting the Armed Forces. Along with the direct contributions, there is also an indirect one: the fact that without the technologies provided by the Defence industry the Armed Forces would not be able to guarantee a peaceful and secure environment for our societies, which is crucial for the development of the green transition in both the military and civilian sectors.

The lack of historical military action on GHG emissions is underpinned not by a deficit of available technologies, but by an organisational and socio-psychological de-prioritisation of sustainability. Although current practices may be able to achieve some emissions reductions, it will remain difficult to deliver substantive and holistic ‘greening’ of the military without creating an organisational culture in which all personnel actively prioritise mitigation and adaptation across all defence functions and units. This chapter will highlight how military education provides a significant and resource-light method for supporting the behavioural change required to achieve this. It will outline the existence of relevant scholarship on military and environmental education, alongside well-developed epistemic networks, pedagogical knowledge and locus points for delivery of environmental learning across existing military education infrastructures. These contexts, it argues, generate valuable opportunities to deliver quick wins on sustainability knowledge and behavioural change across different points of the defence function. At the same time, it concludes, armed forces should still implement systemic training needs analysis programmes, with micro-level analyses of the environmental biases and educational needs of key functions, as well as macro-level analyses of the entire defence function.