The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been told by ministers its climate targets are “simply not ambitious enough” in a recent damning Defence and Climate Change report.
The MoD is required to reduce its overall carbon emissions from the estate and civilian operations by 30% and its ‘direct emissions’ from those areas by 10% — both by 2025.
However, Scientists for Global Responsibility executive director Dr Stuart Parkinson stated these targets are “so lax that it would be met even if the MoD took no action to reduce emissions before 2025.”
Parkinson added that the MoD’s emissions would reduce by 32% by 2025 solely using the National Grid.
Defence Committee chair Tobias Ellwood said a target that can be reached by the decarbonisation of the National Grid alone is “simply not ambitious enough.”
“Sitting back and doing nothing cannot be a valid option for such a high-emitting area of government,” he added.
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Additionally, the MoD is being urged by ministers to start measuring and reporting emissions to achieve its goals in a timely manner.
Conflict and Environment Observatory policy officer Linsey Cottrell said the MoD needs to start “measuring and reporting properly now.”
“It may be an unachievable target, but you will know where you are with it, and you can make that informed decision of where you want to be.”
In its Annual Report and Accounts for 2021 to 2022, the MoD reported the figures were 3.5 times higher than originally reported in the Greening Government Commitments workstream, equating to 0.96 million tCO2e compared to 3.34M tCO2e.
The report stated however that “even this figure for total measured emissions fails to come close to an estimated total for overall UK defence emissions.
“In 2020 Dr Stuart Parkinson used the methodology of Professor Mike Berners-Lee of Lancaster University to estimate total emissions from UK defence at around 13 million tCO2e,” it added.
In response to the Defence and Climate Change report, the MOD said: “The UK has decarbonised faster than any other G7 country and we are working towards our net zero ambition whilst maintaining military capability.
“This includes through initiatives such as sustainable aviation fuel, the electrification of vehicles and piloting of solar farms.
“We will consider the report’s recommendations, several of which align with work already being undertaken across defence, and we will respond in due course.”
