Impacts of climate change on defence-related critical energy infrastructure

Description

Climate change is a growing concern for European Union (EU) security and defence. In addition to direct impacts, climate change can also affect civilian entities that operate critical energy infrastructure (CEI) and provide the energy services on which the military relies (e.g., electricity, heat, fuel). The disruption of these services may cascade to military installations, possibly with severe consequences for the operational effectiveness and readiness of the armed forces.

Generally speaking, climate change can affect military infrastructure, military capabilities, missions and operations. Climate-related hazards can damage or destroy military assets or render them unfit for purpose in certain operating conditions. This in turn can bring about increasing health and safety risks to military personnel, higher costs for inspection, maintenance and replacement of the affected assets,  and increasing demand for civilian emergency operations.

Climate-related hazards may also trigger technological accidents, which can be related to energy use, such as oil spills, fires and explosions, phenomena that are particularly relevant in military installations and CEI that handle dangerous substances (e.g., oil and gas).

In support of the EU’s Climate Change and Defence Roadmap, the first EU action plan to address the links between defence and climate change, and of the EU’s Strategic Compass for Security and Defence, this joint study of the European Commission Directorate-General Joint Research Centre and the European Defence Agency aimed to:

1) assess the impacts of climate change on defence-related CEI, military installations and military capabilities, including via dependencies;

2) identify gaps and propose options to strengthen resilience to climate change in defence-related CEI, military installations and military capabilities;

3) suggest ways forward for defence to reduce its climate footprint and increase its sustainability.

The study shows that not acknowledging and anticipating the direct and indirect impacts of climate change on EU security and defence, particularly on military installations and CEI, and acting upon them can have major costs. These mostly preventable costs will be orders of magnitude higher if a disaster or a crisis hits us unprepared, if no prior action has been taken, such as improving risk management, climate-proofing, resilience, sustainability (in alignment with the European Green Deal), energy security, and preparing for the energy transition. 

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