Climate change is real, and it’s a very pressing matter, and you probably don’t need Greta Thunberg to tell you that. Even the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also known as NATO, is well aware of that and is eager to do something to fight it.
In an online seminar held at the beginning of the week, called New Ideas for NATO 2030, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg addressed Chatham House on a variety of issues. Among them was that of climate change, which, Stoltenberg pointed out, was never the focal point of any Strategic Concept from NATO.
As such, a new Strategic Concept would be in order, and it would have to revisit the 2010 existing one to include climate change. The issue affects societies on a myriad of levels, posing security threats and acting as a crisis multiplier.
“Gobal warming puts pressure on people and resources and makes the world a more dangerous place,” Stoltenberg stressed. “We all have a responsibility to do more to combat climate change,” he continued, adding that NATO was well aware of the need to reach net zero.
Specifically, Stoltenberg cited the NATO tanks and other military vehicles and the high emissions they generate. He detailed that alternative fuel sources are in order, from a double perspective: cutting the troops’ reliance on fossil fuels and effectively doing a part in tackling climate change. The issue is a tad more nuanced than just “slap some solar panels or a battery on a tank,” to be sure.
“We know that heavy battle tanks or fighter jets and naval ships, they consume a lot of fossil fuel and emit greenhouse or CO2, greenhouse gases, CO2, and therefore we do have to look into how we can reduce those emissions by alternative fuels, solar panels, other ways of running our missions,” the Secretary General explained.
By eliminating reliance on fossil fuels, NATO will be able to do away with vulnerable supply lines and combat climate change. In turn, this will mean increasing military effectiveness and the resilience of troops. “So we are working on that with different projects to look into how we can make our militaries greener and less dependent on fossil fuels,” he added.
As such, a new Strategic Concept would be in order, and it would have to revisit the 2010 existing one to include climate change. The issue affects societies on a myriad of levels, posing security threats and acting as a crisis multiplier.
“Gobal warming puts pressure on people and resources and makes the world a more dangerous place,” Stoltenberg stressed. “We all have a responsibility to do more to combat climate change,” he continued, adding that NATO was well aware of the need to reach net zero.
Specifically, Stoltenberg cited the NATO tanks and other military vehicles and the high emissions they generate. He detailed that alternative fuel sources are in order, from a double perspective: cutting the troops’ reliance on fossil fuels and effectively doing a part in tackling climate change. The issue is a tad more nuanced than just “slap some solar panels or a battery on a tank,” to be sure.
“We know that heavy battle tanks or fighter jets and naval ships, they consume a lot of fossil fuel and emit greenhouse or CO2, greenhouse gases, CO2, and therefore we do have to look into how we can reduce those emissions by alternative fuels, solar panels, other ways of running our missions,” the Secretary General explained.
By eliminating reliance on fossil fuels, NATO will be able to do away with vulnerable supply lines and combat climate change. In turn, this will mean increasing military effectiveness and the resilience of troops. “So we are working on that with different projects to look into how we can make our militaries greener and less dependent on fossil fuels,” he added.