Defence Online

New research: The impact of climate change on UK defence crisis response

Land May 6, 2021

Climate change presents many challenges for the military in future crisis response situations, many of which could be mitigated by improved collaboration across Whitehall, as well as with multilateral and regional partners, according to a new RAND Europe report.

The study, commissioned by the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MOD), found that climate-related hazards, such as droughts, floods, wildfires and food shortages, are likely to make UK defence logistics more complex and challenging for operations providing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and military aid to civil authorities.

The wider effects of climate change may disrupt or destroy critical infrastructure and supply chains, presenting tactical challenges like contaminated water supplies and food shortages. The greater quantities of supplies required will also likely generate greater costs and place pressure on finite resources.

As the risk of natural disasters is projected to increase in the future, there is an increased expectation of military involvement in crisis response. The UK is likely to face concurrent operations at home and abroad, which are bound to stretch resources and the readiness to address other contingencies.

Coordination between the MOD and other entities is likely to become more complex and more urgent. The study suggests that the UK’s crisis response could benefit from shifting from an ‘emergency’ to ‘resilience’ approach that plans more proactively for regular, periodic events that emphasise capacity and resilience building across the entire crisis response delivery chain as well as among affected communities.

The study builds on a 2020 report on the implications of climate change for defence.

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climate change RAND Europe UK MOD

Post written by: Matt Brown