Hi. Saw this in The Australian May 29-30 2010. We have a good local presence of Defence forces in The Grove to work along with.
[i]Climate change will drive future agenda[/i]
Pentagon lays out its future vision: “While climate change alone does not cause conflict it may act as an accelerant of instability or conflict placing a burden to respond on civilian institutions and militaries around the world.”
Many security analysts now argue that climate change will amplify existing social political and resource stresses. It will shift the tipping point at which conflicts may ignite.
In many countries the armed forces are the only organisation that can conduct disaster response and mitigation…such as responding to high risk fire and flooding areas at critical times.
The Australian Defence needs to plan more for the impacts of climate change. More work needs to be done to identify which facilities are vulnerable to what types of climate change and what are the best ways to adapt….how Defence should incorporate operational energy considerations into force planning and acquisition processes.
Defence acquisitions will need in the future to factor in much more issues related to energy performance efficiency and effectiveness as well as reducing the nulnerabilities of energy supply. Defence is the Australian government’s largest energy consumer. There’s likely to be increased political pressure on Defence to cut emissions.
Energy-guzzling platforms will be increasingly costly to operate. Along with other users Defence will also pay more for traditional fuels. Increased energy efficiency directly translates into dollar savings at a time when Defence is being told to save wherever possible. By 2020 the US Navy wants 40% of all its energy needs to come from alternative fuels.
In the longer term Defence will have to reduce emissions to meet requirements for reducing greenhouse gases at its military facilities. Where possible Defence should use renewable sources such as solar and wind power in remote locations set the highest standards in its building energy ratings and if it can sell excess energy back into the power grid.
There are a significant number of personnel within the Australian Defence organisation who are working on various aspects of climate change issues..
Anthony Bergin. Here to help: Strengthening the Defence role in Australian disaster management Australian Strategic Policy Institute 2010