Military Green 2013: Series of Focused Workshops

The anticipated follow-up to Military Green 2012 takes on a different form altogether. Last year’s bash formed part of the Commission’s Sustainable Energy Week gathering hundred and fifty attendants with the aim to raise awareness on the bigger picture of climate, environment and energy while exhibiting and demonstrating technological opportunities to reduce the footprint. The low key 2013 edition looks instead to develop roadmaps to deliver tangible results drawing on civil-military synergies.

Addressing energy and environment is essential to sustaining defence and crisis management capabilities. Recent operations have clearly shown that energy supply in theatre is an Achilles’ heel. Time and again adversaries have targeted fuel convoys, compromising the operational effectiveness and causing unnecessary loss of life.

Increasing energy efficiency reduces vulnerability and additionally cuts costs, not only in theatre but also at home during preparations. Introducing better water and waste management as well as the use of more responsible materials and munitions provides a good base for post-conflict reconstruction while contributing to sustainable development. Furthermore, understanding how climate change affects international security supports developing capabilities that can prevent potential future disasters and conflicts.

Following a strategic Government-only meeting earlier this year a number of areas were identified as quick wins, requiring little or moderate efforts. To launch the harvesting of these low hanging fruit it was decided to conduct a set of expert workshops to identify challenges, opportunities and a viable collaborative way forward. Topics that will be covered are:

6 – 7 June 2013

Climate change and loss biodiversity as threat-multipliers to international security
Increasing awareness on the impact of the EU directives
Exploring new business models that make it attractive for all stakeholders (supplier, buyer, user and environment) to reduce the footprint

13 – 14 June 2013

Catalysing the introduction of alternative fuels
Integrating novel alternative and renewable energy supply technologies for land installations
Eco-design – designing to endure environmental conditions responsibly

Key stakeholders have already been invited to attend. Should you be interested in attending and there are seats available this is possible. Just send us an e-mail to gem2(a)eda.europa.eu and let us know what topics you are interested in and we will assess if it is feasible.