Climate change is an impending threat to humanity and it is already damaging ecosystems and economies while imposing huge costs on the military on issues such as governance and civil unrest. The past two years have led to huge losses and have impacted the strategic readiness of the U.S military.
Three major catastrophes i.e. Hurricane Florence, Hurricane Michael, and the raging wildfires in Northern California, have led to about $9 billion in damage, and Air Force bases are issuing warning signals as coastal erosions are damaging sea walls, runways, and military infrastructure. Climate change is increasingly becoming a threat to the military, national security interests, and defense objectives by undermining governments and triggering large-scale population displacement leading to an impingement directly on the US military operations.
Albeit climate change is adversely affecting the military, the reality is that the US military emissions are “one of the largest climate polluters in history, in terms of contribution to the carbon footprint and consumption of more liquid fuels than most countries.”
The World Resources Institute’s 2018 data ranks the US military in the top 60 of the carbon emitters, which releases approximately similar CO2 levels as countries like Portugal and Finland. The Military’s negligence towards resource management, constant nuclear testing, and unsustainable military techniques, comes at a huge environmental cost, and it must rehash its procedures and assess climate change threats. Aside from its destructive contribution to the environment, the US military is also impacting the environments and economies of other countries leading to a global climate crisis.
For example, the US intervention in Iraq led to the disposal of tons of waste in airborne pits, and uranium left over from the Gulf war is a tremendous environmental burden. Such interventions found that the total emissions of carbon dioxide from these war-related activities amount to 400 million metric tons. In order to lead by example on assessing climate change threats, the US must look into the impact of the military and the military industry on the environment.
What are they doing?
In recent years, the Pentagon’s leadership has become cognizant of the Military’s contribution to environmental changes. The military recognizes that if it is not prepared to meet the impacts of climate change, it will lead to a compromise in the military’s position due to the lack of necessary equipment and techniques.
The US army has thus decided to reduce its impact on the environment, by identifying and implementing steps to be a strong steward of the environmental resources and to operate efficiently across extreme weather and climate conditions.
The following is being done to bring significant changes in its strategic plans and operations:
- Analysing climate risks in modelling simulation and operational activities.
- Investing in sustainable technology to enhance capabilities for operational energy and supporting the mitigation and adaptation to climate change with an emphasis on soldier resilience, energy reform, and capability enhancement and procurement.
- Integrating energy efficiency and renewable energy in their installation portfolio which includes the supply chain considerations. For example, the U.S Navy has enabled ships and aircraft to operate on half biofuel and half petroleum leading to an energy-efficient system to reduce the drag and resistance in the water allowing the ships to operate further for longer periods of time.
- Adopting changes in resource planning, design, and construction through sustainable standards. For example, they have made efforts to increase renewable electric generators on military bases in a bid to reduce their carbon footprint.
Although the Army is trying to introduce significant changes in the way they function, their efforts are still minimal. The direction in which they are going makes their intent clear but it has to be implemented with much more rigor and at a greater pace. It is necessary to bring about greater transparency in reporting so that there is a more robust mechanism in which emissions can be managed and reduced to the maximum extent.
The following should also be done to ensure the same:
- Making changes in the budget: Although the defective defense requirements of economies are increasing year by year, it is necessary for the Pentagon to either reduce its budget for the military or allocate a greater portion of the budget in the procurement of sustainable technology.
- Holding the military accountable: The US military should be held accountable by the international community due to their negligence in resource management, human rights violations, nuclear testing, and wars, so that they alter their operations.
- Redirect funding into meaningful projects: Instead of spending large amounts on conducting wars and spending on nuclear fuels, it is necessary that the funding is put into more peaceful and environmentally sustainable projects.
Thus, to ensure the existence of a robust defense system, fighting the climate crisis is the need of the hour. The shared commitment of the world players is crucial to ensure a safer, cleaner, and more secure future. Contrarily, communities will wither away, seriously hampering the global capacity to respond to this existential threat.
Pearl Katyal
Member
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