Chapter 7 - Sustainable Development, Military Aid to the Civil Authorities and Conflict Prevention

Sustainable Development in Defence

This section provides information on the MOD’s performance in key areas of sustainable development.

In the UK, the Government and Devolved Administrations have set out what sustainable development means for them: 'The goal of sustainable development is to enable all people throughout the world to satisfy their basic needs and enjoy a better quality of life, without compromising the quality of life of future generations.'

The Government’s Sustainable Development Strategy Securing the Future published in March 2005 gave four priority areas for action

  • Sustainable consumption and production
  • Climate change and energy
  • Natural resource protection and environmental enhancement
  • Creating sustainable communities and a fairer world
It also set the aspiration for government departments to be leaders in areas such as water, energy use, waste and procurement for which the SOGE (Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate) and other targets were produced.

As a major landowner, employer, consumer of energy and procurer of goods and services, Defence has the potential to make a significant contribution to these targets. Without sustainable development there is a real risk that defence capability will be threatened as increasing environmental, social and economic pressures exacerbate existing conflicts and impact on the operation of our equipment, estate, and people. Furthermore, sustainable development makes very good operational and business sense as improvements in fuel efficiency can increase operational agility and reduce risk and cost. Other benefits include improved reputation and the creation of opportunities such as stimulating innovation in new technology.

The MOD’s Sustainable Development vision reflects the important links between sustainable development and Defence: To be successful in achieving the Defence Vision because we have embedded sustainable development principles into all areas of Defence business. This is being achieved through delivery against the MOD Sustainable Development Strategy and Sustainable Development Action Plan.

Links to websites

The MOD’s annual Sustainable Development Report and Action Plan are published in December and are available at:
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/CorporatePublications/HealthandSafetyPublications/SSDCD/SustainableDevelopment
Policy/SustainableDevelopmentStrategyReportsAndActionPlans.htm.

The MOD’s Sustainable Development Strategy is at:
http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/FD9DAF98-43C5-4453-A6CF-5D03C8A5963E/0/SusDevStrategy.pdf
and the Climate Change Strategy at:
http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/73ED201B-CC03-41B4-8936-6BED49469D6E/0/ClimateChangeStrategy2009.pdf.

The official UK Government website for sustainable development is the UK Government Sustainable Development website:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/sustainable/government.

Securing the Future is available on the Defra website: http://www.defra.gov.uk/sustainable/government/publications/uk%2Dstrategy.

Further details on SOGE targets are at the OGC website: http://www.ogc.gov.uk/sustainability_soge_targets.asp.

Reports on MOD’s (and other government departments’) progress against the Government Sustainable Development targets are given on the Sustainable Development Commission website: http://www.sd-commission.org.uk.