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Joint Research Centre

Helping EU defence become climate resilient

Climate change threatens military assets, capabilities, and operations. The JRC’s work helps the EU defence sector adapt to increase its resilience and its operational effectiveness under adverse conditions.

Defence must increase its resilience to climate change

The defence sector is critical for maintaining the safety and stability of our society. However, defence assets, capabilities, and operations are also at risk from climate hazards, such as floods, storms, and high or low temperatures. Such impacts can damage or destroy military assets or render them unfit for purpose in certain operating conditions, result in health and safety risks for military personnel, or lead to higher costs for infrastructure inspection, maintenance, repair and overhaul. The impacts of climate change on defence are expected to increase in the future.

At the same time, climate hazards can also affect civilian entities that operate critical infrastructure providing services which the military rely on, for example, electricity for powering systems or fuel for transportation. If such infrastructure is affected by climate hazards, the services it provides may be disrupted, cascading to military installations and compromising operational effectiveness and readiness. 

CC and defence 1
© Sen. Airman Brittain Crolley/USAF

Addressing the climate change-defence nexus

The JRC addresses the climate-defence nexus and proposes actions for EU defence to ensure climate resilience. In collaboration with its EU partners, for example the European Defence Agency, the JRC conducts scientific analyses to identify existing gaps and barriers for effective climate risk management in defence while providing recommendations for EU Ministries of Defence and critical energy infrastructure operators on climate change adaptation. The recommendations aim to facilitate the climate proofing of all aspects of defence and focus on the operational dimension, capability planning and development, governance, multi-stakeholder engagement, and research, development and innovation.

Proactively addressing climate change via risk management and implementing tailored risk reduction and resilience measures decreases future losses, preserves military capability and ensures operational effectiveness. To help EU defence actors navigate the intricate climate risk management landscape, the JRC developed targeted guidance for senior defence leaders, allowing them to understand their organisation’s exposure to climate hazards, the associated vulnerabilities of its elements, missions and operations, and which actions can be taken to increase climate resilience.

Background

Several instruments acknowledge the need to consider climate change in the overall EU security context. 

The Joint Communication on the climate-security nexus addresses the impact of climate change and environmental degradation on peace, security and defence. The security and defence implications of climate change and environmental degradation have become more urgent, challenging and multifaceted.

The Climate Change and Defence Roadmap addresses the implications of climate change on security and defence. Its aim is to ensure that climate policy implications become an integral part of the EU’s thinking and action in defence research and development, industry, technology and infrastructure and the EU Common Security and Defence Policy. 

The Strategic Compass for Security and Defence calls for the full implementation of the Roadmap, recognising climate change as a threat multiplier that affects the EU’s long-term security. It also invites Member States to share national plans on how to prepare the armed forces for climate change.

The Critical Entities Resilience Directive strengthens the resilience of critical infrastructure to a range of threats, including natural hazards.