As the Greening Defence podcast concludes, the hosts come together to reflect on how the conversation about climate change has evolved within UK defence, where there is more work to be done, and what defence might need to do to make sure it is resilient for a climate changed future.

Across the first seven episodes, 11 guests joined us to help navigate the topics of climate change, sustainability, culture and technology, and to discuss how the single services are choosing to focus their efforts. In this final episode, hosts Lieutenant Colonel Alistair Beard, Dr Sarah Ashbridge, Doug Weir and Linsey Cottrell reflect on the conversations held and provide their own assessment of defence’s progress and future potential.

With an ambitious goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2040, how does the RAF perceive the threat of climate change, and how does it plan to accelerate the pace of mitigation?

Lieutenant Colonel Alistair Beard and Dr Sarah Ashbridge have the honour of hosting Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, Chief of the Air Staff, to explore the threats to the air domain and where the opportunities for transformation lie.

They discuss the priorities that the RAF has identified, and how it plans to adapt to maintain operational capabilities while also improving the resilience of the service. Will alternative fuels ease the burden of logistical supply chains? And how can climate change mitigation projects enable capabilities even in the most extreme operating environments?

How is the UK’s Senior Service both adapting to and mitigating the effects of climate change for future operations in the naval domain?

Hosts Dr Sarah Ashbridge and Lieutenant Colonel Alistair Beard are joined by Rear Admiral Paul Beattie, Director Naval Staff within the Royal Navy, to explore what he describes as the biggest change management programme facing defence.

They discuss how climate change is informing the Royal Navy’s approach to concepts such as ship design, fuel and procurement, and how existing capabilities are being futureproofed for retrofitting of emerging green technologies. How are operational requirements likely to change? Will this include an increased demand for disaster relief?

What does climate change mean for the land domain, and how is the British Army working to reduce emissions now and in the future?

‘What does climate change mean for our roles?’ is a difficult question to answer when posed by service personnel. To address this, the Greening Defence team has spoken with representatives from each of the armed services to help us understand how climate change affects each domain, and how they plan to adapt to maintain capabilities, improve operability and reduce emissions in response.

In this episode, hosts Dr Sarah Ashbridge and Lieutenant Colonel Alistair Beard are joined by Major General Richard Clements, Director Army Basing and Infrastructure, to discuss how the British Army is responding to climate change. Major General Clements provides a whirlwind tour of the works on the estate and ongoing trials which will inform future capabilities, logistical support and deployable infrastructure, to help us understand what the Army’s response looks like in practice and where there is more to be done.

Future technology is often viewed as an all-encompassing answer to climate change, even in the defence sector. The armed forces have placed a bet on technology with the expectation that technological breakthroughs will facilitate their ability to operate in environments affected by climate change.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the widespread impact of climate change, the range of technological solutions on offer to Defence is extensive, but with varying degrees of utility. Hosts Dr Sarah Ashbridge (RUSI) and Doug Weir (CEOBS) are joined by Steve Murray, VP, Strategy and Marketing UK at Thales and Finlay Asher, Co-Founder, Safe Landing and Founder, Green Sky Thinking to explore the role of technology in climate change mitigation and its suitability for Defence.

Organisations often look to technology to provide a solution to the problems posed by climate change, but is the importance of organisational culture underestimated?

In this episode of Greening Defence, we look at the importance of organisational culture in tackling climate change, and what this might mean for the UK Armed Forces, an organisation with a predominantly traditional ethos and structure. What internal cultures and practices will need to be adapted and changed to create a greener and more sustainable organisation? How might industry provide examples from which the military can learn?

Hosts Major Alistair Beard (RUSI/British Army) and Linsey Cottrell (CEOBS) are joined by Lieutenant General Richard Nugee, CB, CVO, CBE (Non-Executive Director for Climate Change for Defence) and Dr Duncan Depledge (Lecturer in Geopolitics and Security, Loughborough University) to help analyse the issue.

Sustainability can be somewhat of an umbrella phrase, misused to cover a spectrum of climate change-related activities. But what does the term mean for the UK armed forces, and how might they learn from the experience of industry?

When discussing climate change, the focus is often on decarbonisation rather than sustainability. Lieutenant General Richard Wardlaw (Chief of Defence Logistics and Support, UK Ministry of Defence) and Howard Lungley (Sustainability Lead at the Frazer-Nash consultancy) help us understand why sustainability is important to the defence sector, and how industry has navigated the same challenges.

In this episode, hosts Major Alistair Beard (RUSI/British Army) and Linsey Cottrell (CEOBS) identify with General Wardlaw and Lungley what sustainability means within the defence sector, as well as the learning curve that the UK armed forces have embarked upon.

The discussion sheds light on the interconnected nature of sustainability and on the imperative and character of change in the defence sector.  

The UK Armed Forces are only at the start of their learning curve on green technologies, and though there have been many examples of innovation and positive change, these haven’t always been immediately visible to the many who still ask: ‘what does climate change mean for defence?’

In the first episode of Greening Defence, hosts Dr Sarah Ashbridge and Doug Weir (Conflict and Environment Observatory) discuss the range of ways in which climate change is affecting defence, and how the Ministry of Defence and UK Armed Forces have been working to respond to the challenges .

They are joined by James Clare (Director for Climate Change and Sustainability, Ministry of Defence) and Dr Stuart Parkinson (Scientists for Global Responsibility), who introduce some of the more prominent debates about how defence is working to respond to climate change – such as on carbon emissions, communication, renewable technologies, alternative fuels, the balance between leadership and innovation, and interoperability. James and Stuart effectively set the scene for the next three episodes of the Greening Defence podcast, which will explore the key themes of sustainability, technology and culture.