A green future for the Armed Forces

Viten 2019
This abstract and publication is only available in Norwegian

About the publication

Report number

19/02096

ISBN

978-82-464-3240-3

Format

PDF-document

Size

3 MB

Language

Norwegian

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Øyvind Voie Simen Kirkhorn Lars Aarønæs Simon Utstøl Magnus Sparrevik Espen Hofoss

It’s time to take the next step. This publication differs from other editions of VITEN in that it’s not the end result of a particular research project. Instead, this edition of VITEN reflects several years of research and a large number of different projects that in one way or another have climate and the Armed Forces as common denominators. So why did we write this edition? Do the Armed Forces really need to be climate friendly? Isn’t their overarching task – to safeguard the Norwegian people and their sovereignty – so important that all other considerations must give way? It’s an interesting question, but, we believe, a non sequitur: we believe the climate and national defence are inextricably intertwined.

If climate scientists are right in their warnings about environmental changes, we should expect security consequences for Norway. Ship traffic in our waters will increase. We can become involved in international operations where climate change has created political or humanitarian crises. And we can be directly affected by refugee flows from crisis-stricken areas.

This edition of VITEN does not attempt to paint a doomsday scenario. Nor is it a complete review of what the Armed Forces currently do or have done for the climate. The key word for this edition is opportunities. Can we reconcile combat power and sustainability? What opportunities lie in technological development? How can we make the Armed Forces better and more climate friendly at the same time? And especially: how can we at FFI help with research, development and technological competence to make it happen? Some may think that what we’re writing about is far from reality. Others will probably want us to be more visionary. At any rate, FFI deals with applied research, not with science fiction.

We must take small steps to achieve great things. So far, environmental work in the Armed Forces has largely been limited to monitoring the Armed Forces’ direct impact on the environment, and to a certain extent cleaning up. The awareness and level of knowledge about what is possible to achieve is too low. Decisions on environmental measures must be raised higher in the Armed Forces. It's time to take the next step.

About the publication

Report number

19/02096

ISBN

978-82-464-3240-3

Format

PDF-document

Size

3 MB

Language

Norwegian

Download publication

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