The government’s environmental goals are clear – why isn't the Ministry of Defence doing more to meet them?

Over the past 10 years our defence department has made little progress in increasing its use of renewable sources, explains Keith Davis

The Ministry of Defence could faster reduce its waste and use of landfill sites, among other climate targets (iStock)

Due to its size, supply chain, and the amount of land it controls, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) plays a critical role in supporting the government’s climate goals.

The department’s £38bn expenditure is the third-largest in government and its work has a significant impact on the environment. It contributes half of all the emissions the government is required to report under the Greening Government Commitments (GGC).

The National Audit Office’s MoD environmental overview shows that although the department has made some progress towards its sustainability objectives, it could do more to minimise environmental damage.

The GGC targets set out environmental objectives for departments and their agencies to achieve by 2020. These required the MoD to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 39.9 per cent from 2010 levels. In addition, the department was tasked with managing waste sustainably, reducing the use of paper, and using fewer domestic flights.

We found that last year, the MoD reported 830,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions – a 42 per cent reduction since 2009-10, which means it will achieve its GGC target for reducing carbon emissions.

However, this only represents a 41 per cent share of reductions achieved across government even though the department contributes half of all the emissions covered by these commitments. For instance, the department needs to have 1,700 ultra-low-emission vehicles by 2022 to meet government targets, but it currently has just 12, of which 10 are electric.

In addition, the MoD is in a good position to achieve other GGC targets for waste reduction and waste to landfill. However, it will struggle to meet those on waste recycling, the use of paper and reducing domestic flights. For example, it has reduced paper use by just a third since 2010, but the target was to halve paper use.

A recent report from Defra found that the MoD risks missing opportunities to improve its environmental sustainability if it focuses too much on what is covered by the GGC targets. In 2018-19, there were more than twice as many greenhouse gas emissions – 1.8 million tonnes – in activities not covered by the GGC targets, such as the operation of defence equipment (including land vehicles, aircraft and navy vessels). These emissions are reducing at a slower rate.

Almost all vehicles and weapons in use, or under procurement, rely on fossil fuels, and some of the largest are expected to still be in operation in 2050. To address this, the MoD has set a target for a 10 per cent reduction in fuel use by 2025-26 against a 2015-16 baseline.

Over the past 10 years, the MoD has made little progress in increasing the proportion of its energy drawn from renewable sources, despite opportunities to do so through its estate. If it did, it could make an even greater contribution to the government’s carbon reduction strategy.

Meanwhile, the department owns or controls approximately 1 per cent of the UK’s land mass, and over a third of this area is designated as sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs). SSSIs are areas of land and water that are protected to conserve the UK’s natural heritage.

Natural England has assessed 48 per cent of the department’s English SSSIs as in “favourable” condition, comparing well to the English average of 39 per cent. However, more than half of these have not been assessed since at least 2011 with concerns that this figure is no longer accurate.

The MoD has traditionally seen environmental sustainability as a subset of health and safety risks and hazards, making it a “Cinderella issue”. Due to the unique and critical responsibilities for managing serious risks of hazard and damage in defence, there are legitimate reasons for doing so. However, we have not seen any other department link health, safety and environmental governance so closely.

In other areas, the MoD compares well. Its sustainability guidance for delivery teams goes beyond anything we have seen in other departments.

The MoD has started to reflect its environmental ambitions in its policy and to improve its oversight arrangements, which have not functioned well up to this point. The 2019 Defence Plan detailed the department’s environmental policies, plans and targets. However, the plan did not contain any specific activities, policy milestones or delivery dates to promote biodiversity and sustainable construction.

Achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 will be a challenge for defence. The Ministry of Defence plans to address the issue of how to maintain military capability while delivering net zero emissions as part of its contribution to the government’s Integrated Security, Defence and Foreign Policy Review.

Keith Davis is the director of Defra and environmental sustainability at the National Audit Office. The National Audit Office helps Parliament hold government to account for the way it spends public money