The MOD Airshow’s main subject this year is sustainability. One of the biggest dangers we all face is the effects of climate change.
Climate change is predicted to cause 720 million people to live in poverty by 2050.
More than 216 million people might be compelled to leave their own nations.
How will that affect the defence?
Sustainability must be integrated from the beginning rather than being an afterthought.
The MOD’s strategy consists of three parts: we must incorporate sustainability into all levels of decision-making, from the factory to the frontlines.
We established a new climate change directorate within the MOD to lead this initiative, and it has already started to provide the groundwork for our continued response.
Our Sustainable Support Strategy is being developed with an emphasis on operational self-sustainability, supply chain resilience, and lowering the lifespan effect of defence commodities.
And to ensure that new construction meets a higher standard of energy efficiency, we modified our Built Estate policy.
Therefore, we must start by working hard right now. With ambitions to replicate this at 80 additional locations throughout the UK, the RAF has constructed a solar farm at Leconfield that can save the Army more than £250,000 annually.
Research to scale up the technique and produce more fuel for certification and testing will be done as part of Project PICASSO, the RAF’s ground-breaking waste fuels recycling programme.
We’re about to enter into a new agreement with Northern Engineering Solutions to advance the bioprocessing process this month.
The goal is to set up a test rig at RAF Brize Norton that, if successful, can be replicated at other significant aviation stations domestically and abroad.
The Defence and Security Industrial Strategy (DSIS) offers a framework for stronger collaborations with business, assisting companies in better understanding defence needs early on and assisting them in exporting their cutting-edge products.
We revised our commercial procurement policy as part of DSIS so that every purchase decision is evaluated for broader social value.
Combating climate change is one of the key goals.
A steering group on climate change and sustainability has also been established inside the Defence Suppliers Forum, and it is via this group that we are collaborating with business on net zero plans.
What can we learn about decarbonization from the UK Net Zero Strategy that we could apply to the military?