The House of Commons Defence Committee has today published its report “Defence and Climate Change” – the report finds that the Ministry of Defence (MOD) “can do much more to measure and reduce its emissions – without eroding military capability.” 

The terms of reference for the inquiry, which opened in May 2022, invited written evidence on the following points:

• What needs to be done to achieve the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy’s number one international priority of meeting climate change and biodiversity loss commitments over the next decade?
• What will be the impacts of climate change on future conflict and how are UK Armed Forces adapting to them?
• Are UK Armed Forces prepared for the probable increase in requests for Military Aid to the Civil Authorities (MACA) tasks as a result of more extreme weather conditions in the UK, and the increased risk of flooding and rising sea levels?
• With defence alone accounting for half of central government’s greenhouse gas emissions, what should be the MOD’s contribution towards achieving the UK’s net zero target by 2050?

The report is calling out the MOD’s decarbonisation targets as “insufficiently demanding”, saying despite producing half of all central Government’s carbon emissions, the MOD has among the least demanding targets for reducing emissions.

The Committee finds in the Report that Defence can do much more to measure and reduce its carbon emissions — without eroding military capability. The Armed Forces, defence acquisition and the defence estate — both at home and abroad — will also need to adapt to respond to the impacts of climate change over the coming decades, with consequences for geostrategy, defence readiness, resilience and the effective delivery of military effect. 

From a foreign policy and defence perspective, the report cites the Government’s 2021 Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy which identified tackling climate change and biodiversity loss as the Government’s number one international priority, However, the Committee acknowledges that this “may be revised following the invasion of Ukraine.”

The MPs say that one lesson from the conflict in Ukraine is that national infrastructure, such as communications and transportation nodes, government buildings and energy facilities, are vulnerable to physical and/or cyber-attack.

Witnesses who gave evidence to the inquiry, which opened on 12 May 2022, told the Committee that to meet its 2025 target of reducing overall emissions by 30%, the MOD will be able to rely purely on the ongoing decarbonisation of the National Grid, without the need to take any action of its own.  

 “Targets are hardly stretching if they can be met without any effort,” the report finds, and calls for Defence to adopt much more demanding targets for the next round of Greening Government Commitment (GGC) targets from 2026-2030.  The MPs want the MOD to measure a much broader range of emissions to generate an accurate picture of its own carbon footprint. GGC targets do not consider Service family accommodation and fuel used by the Services, which are a large portion of MOD’s true emissions.

While the report notes the RAF’s ambitious plans to achieve net zero emissions by 2040, a decade ahead of the Government’s 2050 target, with interim milestones — a net zero airbase by 2025 and a net zero estate by 2030 - it says it is “unclear as to how they propose to achieve this without impacting on military capability.”

The report flags up that the Ministry of Defence has access to around 1.8% of the UK land mass, owns or controls 225,800 hectares, and has access rights to a further 206,700 hectares.

In the MPs’ view, reducing emissions can “cost-effectively and rapidly be achieved in the short term” by accelerating the fitting of existing low carbon technologies—solar, wind, heat pumps and improved building insulation—across the defence estate.

Emissions reporting - “the MOD's reporting of emissions has become too opaque”

The report calls for the MOD to demonstrate global leadership through robust reporting of defence emissions. In particular, the report says the MOD should return to publishing a standalone annual review of its sustainability performance – which has not been published since 2018 – and for its figures to be independently verified.  It also calls on top-level budget holders across Defence to better measure progress by reporting their emissions separately and publicly.  

 Committee Chair - "our report finds that there is much more that the MOD can do to play its part"

Launching the report, Tobias Ellwood MP Chair of the Defence Committee, said: 

“The scientific consensus on climate change is clear and overwhelming: we must reduce carbon emissions dramatically and quickly. While we welcome the progress that has been made so far, our report finds that there is much more that the MOD can do to play its part.

“The MOD is responsible for half of all central Government’s emissions and will need to play an essential role in meeting the Government’s target of becoming net zero by 2050.

“Maintaining the UK’s military capabilities must be given primacy and cannot be subject to compromise. However, the MOD must not hide behind maintaining capabilities as an excuse to avoid making progress elsewhere. In particular, the scope for improving the defence estate is huge – but this may require investment.

“The MOD's reporting of emissions has become too opaque. The UK is a global leader in both climate change and defence – we should be setting a gold standard for emissions reporting, that other countries can follow.

“The MOD should also ensure that its targets are sufficiently demanding. A target that can be reached by the decarbonisation of the National Grid alone is simply not ambitious enough for the challenge we face. Sitting back and doing nothing cannot be a valid option for such a high-emitting area of Government.

“The RAF’s committed target – intending to decarbonise a full decade before the Government’s deadline – proves that net zero ambition exists within Defence. But it is vital for the MOD to march as one, with coordination across the Services and teams. This is one of the many reasons why we recommend the MOD create a dedicated climate change director, who is able to give full focus to this critical task.

“Climate change is a long-term challenge that will impact generations, but strong action is needed now. The MOD can play an important role in delivering net zero – it just needs to show leadership and ambition.” 

Melting of the ice capsof  "particular concern for military planners”

The report highlights the melting of the ice caps as “a particular concern for military planners”, referring to a prediction by scientists that in 15–20 years the Arctic will be open water in the summer. Countries have already begun exploring the Arctic for critical minerals, and the world in 2040 is expected to need four times as many of these for clean energy technologies as it does today.

The MPs warn that the increasing exploitation of the Arctic for international trade and exploration for critical minerals gives greater importance to the role of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) as a security alliance in the ‘High North’. The Committee is calling for the Ministry of Defence to assess how the JEF might need to be adapted in the face of climate-change induced developments in the Arctic and beyond.

The report states:

“The Arctic will also be used increasingly as a route for international trade, but Russia has declared its intent to treat the region as its own internal sea, potentially restricting access. There is also concern that the current ban on exploiting the resources of the Antarctic could be under threat, driving future competition and potential conflict....

“There is some evidence that some countries are showing some interest in the raw minerals in Antarctica.”

Military equipment will also need to be adapted to operate effectively under the more extreme temperature ranges that are predicted, the report says, as well to help reduce emissions, although this should be achieved without compromising military capability. The Committee warns:

“This process cannot be delayed; more than 1,000 new tanks and other armoured vehicles with conventional diesel engines will enter service in the next few years and will still be in service after the 2050 net zero target. Armed Forces training will also need to be adapted in the face of rising global temperatures, so military readiness to respond to crises is not eroded.”

Provision of military aid to civil authorities

The report singles out flooding as expected to be “the most prominent climate change risk in the UK over the next five years” saying:

“It is likely, therefore, that Defence will be called out more often for Military Aid to Civil Authorities’ (MACA) tasks.” In addition, the Secretary of State for Defence told Parliament in 2021 that:

“More widely and reflecting climate change as an acknowledged amplifier of global in security, Defence is seeking to adapt to the strategic implications, including recognising that Defence will play an increased role in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations in a climate change world.”

The Committee is concerned that continued reductions in the overall size of the Armed Forces will result in the Ministry of Defence accepting fewer tasks “at the very time over the coming decades when MACA requests from Government are likely to increase.”

“While this will not necessarily directly impact on military capability, it will erode the resilience of the wider emergency services to respond to future environmental and other large-scale emergencies, or Government must devise alternative approaches to its response to civil emergencies,” the report warns.

The MPs are recommending that the Ministry of Defence should assess whether continued reductions in the size of the Armed Forces will likely result in Defence accepting fewer MACA tasks requested by Government over the coming decades. If so, it “should ensure wider Government is fully aware of the implications of this, including the need for alternative non-regular-forces capacity.”

Loss of Defence annual reports on climate change and sustainability

The Committee also espresses over the fact that MOD has stopped providing the annual stand-alone progress report that it produced between 2010 and 2018. According to the MPs, the loss of the underpinning detail makes external validation of the Ministry of Defence’s evidence more difficult.

The Committee is calling for the Ministry of Defence to return to publishing a more in-depth, stand-alone annual review of its climate and sustainability performance, with independent verification of emissions measuring and reporting. It also wants it to explain the apparent discrepancy in reporting overall emission figures in 2019–20 and again in 2020–21, and then reporting the same (now historic) figures again in the 2021–22 Annual Report but with values that have increased by over 40%.

The Committee is calling for the Ministry of Defence to appoint a dedicated climate change director who would be able to fully focus on coordinating carbon reductions across the whole of Defence, including holding separate commands and organisations to account for progress in reducing emissions against their individual goals and measuring and reporting that progress in a timely manner.

“Given increasing scientific concerns around failing to hold to the 1.5° limit on warming and the need for Defence to transition from establishing a comprehensive baseline of carbon emissions to significantly reducing emissions, the report says having the climate change director also responsible for the Union and Levelling-Up in the Ministry of Defence may be too distracting for the important work that needs to be achieved at pace,” the report says.

Click here to download Defence Committee Report Defence and Climate Change in full.