1) English Version V.I

.

Table of Contents

I. Acknowledgments (1-page)

II. Executive Summary (1-page)

III. Introduction and Background (2-pages)

IV. Environmental and Energy Issues and links to the Military (20 pages)
a. Central America (4-pages)

1. Central America Region
2. El Salvador
3. El Salvador Military Forces

b. Caribbean (4-pages)

1. Caribbean Region
2. Trinidad & Tobago
3. Trinidad & Tobago Military Forces

c. South America (4-pages)

1. Equatorial Region
2. Colombia
3. Colombian Navy

d. South America (4-pages)

1. Southern Cone
2. Chile
3. Chilean Military Forces

e. North America (4-pages)

1. North America Region
2. USA
3. US Military Forces

VI Conclusion and Recommendations  (2-pages)

VII. Appendix

VIII. List of References
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ p.1

I. Acknowledgements

________________________________________________________________________________________________________ p.2

II. Executive Summary

It does not aspire to provide a comprehensive assessment of environmental impacts on the entire region, but rather expose impacts of environmental challenges on a set of representational countries. This will inform conversations on how regional militaries can be better prepared to support civilian authorities to mitigate the effects of the “slow moving emergency”, as well as maintaining resiliency and readiness.
Regional cooperation by capable militaries working with civil authorities on significant climate change adaptation issues that enhances resilience reduces regional instability and promotes governmental legitimacy.
Climate change threatens the basic elements of life for the people – access to safe water, food, health, and use of land and environment

o Powerful storms
o Declining crop yields
o Rising sea levels
o Water conflict http://www.cna.org/reports/climate

___________________________________________________________________________________________ p .3

III. Introduction and Background

“The security threats, concerns, and other challenges in the hemispheric context are of diverse nature and multi-dimensional in scope, and the traditional concepts and approaches must be expanded to encompass new and nontraditional threats, which include political, economic, social, health and environmental aspects.”

1 Regional security risks are less likely to result from calculated aggression but rather from the adverse consequences of instabilities faced by many countries as security and stability have political, economic, social, and environmental elements. Managing the diversity of challenges requires a broad approach to security.

2 Gradual but significant environmental variability constitutes a slow moving emergency that all nations will be compelled to respond to both proactively and

Refereces: 1 Key OAS Security Documents, Department of Public Security, Volume I: National Security p.11
2 “The Alliance’s New Strategic Concept,” NATO Press Service

reactively – now and into the future. The extent of the impacts will vary depending upon the magnitude and intensity of exposure in addition to the capacity of individual states to mitigate and respond to the impacts of environmental shifts. All nations should expect a continuing and increasing interplay between climate, land, water, food, migration, and urbanization, economic, social, and political factors. According to a report published by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) (2009a), the relation between migration and climate change can be a function of:

o Intensification of natural disasters.
o Intensification of periods of drought, affecting agricultural production and water access.
o Higher sea levels that will make coastal areas uninhabitable, and that could even mean the disappearance of some island States.
o Increased conflict generated by competition for resources.

Further, manmade changes to the ecosystem linked to exploitive activities to fill growing demand for food, water, fibres, fuel and electricity are already having considerable direct and indirect harmful effects (i.e. direct: floods, water shortages, landslides; indirect: changes in pest patterns; malnutrition; shortage of traditional medicines; mental health problems and intestinal diseases) on local populations. For example, a fifth of the diseases reported in LAC can be attributed to environmental changes (Periago and others, 2007).

3 While the Region’s contribution to global emissions of greenhouse gases is only 11.8% (although rising), it is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change such as rising sea levels, diseases and loss of species, among others. The Region’s vulnerability is due not only to the increased frequency and magnitude of climatic events, but to the ever increasing exposure of the population, agriculture, fisheries, tourism, etc., to such threats.

4 Giving the increasing intensity and propagation of these impacts, it is ill-advised for regional and national security discussions to be confined to traditional topics and notions of security that normally exclusively center on the axis of state on state conflict. Environmental factors such as; natural resources scarcity (e.g. clean water), environmental degradation (e.g. deforestation, water contamination), chemical spills/hazardous wastes, extreme weather/catastrophic events (e.g. tornadoes and hurricanes) and infectious diseases (i.e. pandemics) must be understood as serious hazards to national and international stability. A new framework of understanding is needed – one that incorporates environmental variability considerations into the regional and nation-state security calculus.

References: 3 Periago, M.R., Galvão, L.A., Corvalán, C. and Finkelman, J. 2007. Environmental Health in Latin America and The Caribbean: at the crossroads. Saúde e Sociedade, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 20-25.
4 GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT OUTLOOK LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN GEO LAC 3, UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME (UNEP)

All states of the Americas have experienced locally severe economic damage, plus substantial ecosystem, social and cultural disruption from recent weather-related extremes, including hurricanes, severe storms, floods, droughts, heat waves and wildfires. Over the past several decades, economic damage from severe weather has increased dramatically, due largely to increased value of the infrastructure at risk. Annual cost to North America for example has reached tens of billions of dollars in damaged property and economic productivity, as well as lives disrupted and lost.

These emerging realities will compel governments throughout the Americas, to reassess national security priorities and to develop strategies to improve national resiliencies in the face of intensifying environmental variability. The military in most of the countries of the region can bring tremendous capabilities to combat climate change impacts – among them are:

o Good communications
o Presence on frontiers and in border areas
o Best transportation assets
o Technical & health expertise
o Education & training mission
o Prepares for crises

This information paper provides a synopsis on some prominent environmental related impacts on four Western Hemisphere sub-regions – the Caribbean, North America, Central America, and South America.

5 North America. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, http://know.climateofconcern.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=article&id=109
Environmental and Energy Issues and links to the Military Central America -- CONSIDERACIONES GENERALES SOBRE LA ADAPTACIÓN AL CAMBIO CLIMATICO.

___________________________________________________________________________________________ p .5

Central America

1. INTRODUCTION

The prevailing policies that are developing in Central America have been generating factors of climatic risks, provoking a progressive process of maladaptation of the natural system and the human populations toll on climate , its variability and its changes. The suitable adaptation of Central America in the face of climate change would happen by the social legitimation of the current policies and the necessary construction of sustainable societies. The efforts of adaptation, which could be supported financially inside the framework of the United Nations, might be ineffective if the “developed countries” continue promoting and implementing the policies of the transnational companies, generating vulnerabilities.

2. TERRITORIAL DYNAMICS IN CENTRAL AMERICA.

It is impossible to think of climate change without considering the land, regardless of the processes that are taking place in the territories of each Central American Nation, because this helps us understand what forces are shaping the territory of the region. The most important factor that molds the territory is the settlement pattern of the population, as is the case with the accelerated urbanization processes and their consequent implications of land use; this is certainly a very strong and present dynamic in all Central American countries. Likewise, there are processes that occur in rural areas, especially everything related to the expansion of agriculture and particularly with the dynamics of the agriculture frontier, which of course are processes that are still strongly present in the region.

3. CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE RESPONSE TO POLICY IN CENTRAL AMERICA: TERRITORAIL EXPRESSIONS.

At the regional level, there are two response types to climate change: mitigation, aimed at the reduction and/or capture of greenhouse gas emissions; and adaptation, which refers to response capability and the adjustments to the impacts of climate change. Central America has focused increased interest in mitigation, with their specific territorial expressions, and there is an existing danger that it could be the predominant orientation, according to the latest agreements in the meetings between the leaders of the region. The following are details of the different response types:

a)      Mitigation

                                                                          i.      Sewer systems

                                                                        ii.      Bio Fuels

                                                                      iii.      Avoided deforestation

b)      Adaptation

                                                                          i.      Most vulnerable

                                                                        ii.      Risk management

4. RENEWABLE ENERGY IN CENTRAL AMERICA

When it comes down to energy, Central America is at a crossroads. The seven countries in the Region Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama, increasingly rely on fossil fuels for transportation and power generation, meanwhile the use of wood, mainly used for cooking, continues to be high. All this at the cost of increasing greenhouse gas emission, the deterioration of the quality of air and water, as well as other collective costs such as health.

Central America is already a world leader in geothermal and hydroelectric energy. However, to really revolutionize the energy sector at the regional level, this type of energy needs to be developed in a steady and sustainable manner; as well as the utilization of their solar, wind, the establishment of technologies using energy and transmission efficiency, distribution and storage of smart energy. To achieve its full potential for development of clean energy, Central America will have to assess and document their renewable resources, efficiently and extensively communicate their potential, and strengthen the financial and political support.

These areas of improvement are key components needed to empower Central America to obtain a sustainable energy system. Its share of thirteen percent renewable water energy is impressive when compared with the global average of only four percent. The region has turned to renewable sources of energy generated at the particular level of each individual country, out of necessity, due to the lack of significant fossil fuel resources at the national level and as a result of the political will that led to initiatives and investment in clean energy.

The annual contribution of Central America, which represents only 0.16% of global carbon emissions, is minuscule compared with the world's largest emitters. However, the recent announcement by climate scientists that the Earth's atmosphere has crossed the threshold of 400 parts per million, reinforces the need for all countries to participate in climate protection efforts.

Communities in Central America are demanding the advantages that go hand in hand with clean energy: access of rural communities, greater energy security and reduced reliance on imported fuels throughout the region, opportunities of green growth in local economies, new employment opportunities along increased local ownership and lower environmental and social impacts at the local level.

5. El SALVADORS’ LOCAL SITUATION

El Salvador, with its small territorial extension along the Pacific coast, its topography exhibiting a large percentage of land slopes at 30 º, a coast along the countryside with short hydrographical basins and a large river of origin in neighboring countries, suffers from a high level of exposure and susceptibility to climate change resulting in high vulnerability. Although it is possible that in past decades (30's to 50’s) the country recognized the dimension of their vulnerability, in recent years it has been lost.

Due to the fact that El Salvador has the highest population density in the hemisphere, after Haiti, and a highly deforested territory of a sufficient vegetative coverage , it increases the extent of the impact of extreme weather events, 90% of the population would be in risk, 95% of the national territory and 90% of the GDP (Germwatch, 2010). With recent scientific studies that prove the increase in the frequency, duration, intensity, and changes in the spatial distribution of the climatic phenomena related to changes in the systems of the Pacific and Atlantic ocean, it is unviable for El Salvador to sustain growth and aspire economic development without the implementation of a vision and practice towards adapting to climate change

Being one of the most vulnerable countries in the world, the constant reduction suffered by the forest in El Salvador, caused by immoderate tree felling, in order to give way to urban growth, the expansion of the agricultural frontier, the intensive use of firewood (both to cook and to make charcoal), the inertia of the development and the sum of various human activities. Natural regeneration and reforestation efforts have not significantly contributed to recover adequate vegetation coverage: El Salvador is the only country in Central America that has a negative balance on the import-export balance sheet of forest products; it is urgent that changes are vigorously promoted regarding the conventional way of doing things, with actions and measures that can minimize the risk and vulnerability of the means of life, health, physical and productive infrastructure of the country.

a.- Environmental Diagnosis

El Salvador has severe environmental degradation and increasing vulnerability before climate change, therefore the following specific problems have been identified:

1)      Degradation of high value ecosystems: the ecosystems that are critical to El Salvador are the mangroves, gallery forests, biological corridors and wetlands, which are in an advanced degree of degradation. The recognition of the crucial role that the mangroves have, due to their multiple roles, is almost unknown to the public, the value of the function of as a natural brake system against storm surges and tsunamis, area of nutrition and reproduction of aquatic life and a major drain for carbon, not to mention the source livelihood for a local population (curileros), being degraded by:

a)      An unorganized and unplanned increase of salt mines and shrimp

b)      Pollution by run off from near-by farms, solid waste, domestic and industrial waste

c)      Erosion due to unsustainable agricultural and livestock practices in the higher altitudes and middle basins, causing the siltation of streams and bays.

d)     Indiscriminate felling and the conversion of salty forests to agricultural lands

e)      Expansion of human settlement

f)       Urban and tourist projects

2)      Generalized environmental insalubrity: the discharge of untreated sewage, is a cause of gastrointestinal diseases which are one of the first ten causes of death in the country and the second leading cause of disease, has increased the risk of epidemic outbreaks of diarrheal and acute respiratory diseases, skin diseases, mental health problems, and diseases transmitted by vectors, such as malaria and dengue.

3)      Critical state of water resources: Both surface water and groundwater have suffered from deterioration, the aquifers in the central coastal plain have been over-exploited, some aquifers in the western coastal zone are salinized, loss of capability to regulate and infiltrate water, serious deterioration in the quality of the water and the increasing climate variability, which has resulted in major changes in the spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall, serious problems of erosion and loss of productive land in the upper parts of the basins, helping to reduce the infiltration in the rainy season and the increase of surface runoff.

4)      Disorderly occupation of the territory: there has been an irrational use of soil and other natural resources, which have deepened the environmental degradation and vulnerability to natural hazards.

5)      Increasing climatic threat: which will keep on growing with the tendencies of variability and extreme events (cases): generating impact to scale of: rise, overflows and floods, loss of soil, slides, gullies, siltation of drains, dams and ports, degradation of swamps, rivers, lagoons, estuaries and bays.

Sources for References:

• http://www.inej.edu.ni/novedades/cuarto-informe-estado-de-la-region-un-informe-desde-centroamerica-y-para-centroamerica-2204.html
• http://www.estadonacion.or.cr/files/biblioteca_virtual/centroamerica/Estadisticas-de-Centroamerica-2013.pdf
• http://www.marn.gob.sv/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1708&Itemid=373
• El ABC del Cambio Climático en El Salvador / Sistema de Naciones Unidas – PNUD
• El Cambio Climático en América Latina y el Caribe / PNUMA
• Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente.
• Cuarto Informe de Evaluación del IPCC: Cambio Climático 2007.

El Salvador Military Forces

South America, with the objective to cooperate in the diagnosis on the impact of climate change on the military forces in the region, has prepared a compilation of instruments that deliver information on this matter, which has been separated by countries, includes a brief summary and the respective links where you can access the master document and obtain further information

Chile

Synthesis of Climate Change in the country: according to the latest scientific report of the Panel of Experts on Climate Change for United Nations (IPCC, 2007), a series of current and future impacts associated with climate change are present in Chile. For example, in regard to changes in rainfall patterns, a decline in precipitation in the south of Chile has been identified as a trend, which is coincident with the climatic trends observed for that area of the country. In the case of variations in sea level, the report notes that these can also lead to changes in the location of fish stocks in the southeastern Pacific.

Regarding agriculture, there are future declines projected in harvests for a number of crops, such as corn and wheat, and in more arid areas, such as Northern and Central Chile, climate change may lead to salinization and desertification of agricultural land.

In terms of water resources, a high vulnerability to extreme events is expected. In particular, a high impact on energy availability in the country is expected by anomalies associated with El Niño and La Niña, as well as restrictions on water availability and demands of irrigation in Central Chile, by the same phenomena. On the other hand, recent studies point to Chile as the potential harm in the availability of water and sanitation in coastal cities, and contamination of underground aquifers due to saline intrusion. In regards to glaciers, a dramatic decrease in volume throughout recent decades is being witnessed, and the South of Chile is one of the most affected areas.

For human health, an increase in outbreaks of a pulmonary syndrome caused by the Hanta virus after prolonged droughts has been reported, specifically for Chile, among other countries. This is probably due to the heavy rains and floods that occur after the drought, which increases the availability of food for domestic rodents.

Finally, it is believed that air pollution will be exacerbated due to the burning of fossil fuels tin order to meet transportation needs in urban areas such as Santiago, and that the risk of forest fires will be enhanced by climate change.

Chilean Military Forces

Preliminary Implications of Climate Change in the Military Forces based upon the preliminary analysis of the precedents, you can infer possible implications for the Military Forces, which are part of society and that would be affected by the effects of climate change.

Firstly, it can be established that in order to ensure optimal compliance with all national and international environmental regulations, cooperation in the reduction of the impacts of climate change, including those such as: reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, using renewable energy, waste treatment (management), environmental protection measures, simply to list the most important.

The second implication would be associated with the supporting role that the community could contribute against the adverse effects of climate change such as: droughts, floods, forest fires and diseases, among other issues.

An idea yet to be explored would be to collaborate with the scientific and technological capabilities that military forces have, in order to enhance studies or measures that the States, through their respective environmental ministries, may consider necessary to implement.

In the same manner, and in order to collaborate with the state, it would be of great interest to incorporate a team of experts and delegates of the military forces that are responsible for developing environmental policies, in order to focus and transmit the most experience on these matters.

Finally, a fifth implication, would be associated with education, awareness and training, both inside of the armed institutions and also, to the community, to promote sustainable development.

___________________________________________________________________________________________ p .12

United States

USA
Our leadership in the Department of Defense (DoD) has been considering different aspects of environmental and energy issues and potential effects on US Military facilities, operations, training and missions we undertake. Over the last five years, US national security and defense guidance have highlighted the potential effects of environmental stressors in the future security environment. Physical pressures such as population, resources, energy, climatic and environmental, could combine with rapid social, cultural, technological and geopolitical change to create greater uncertainty.7 Subsequent guidance brought attention to the uncertain effects of climate change to the physical environment and the relation to the military missions. While climate change alone does not cause conflict, it may act as an accelerant of instability or conflict,
placing a burden to respond on civilian institutions and militaries around the world. 8 Environmental factors have the potential to directly affect our military forces as we are supported by the physical environment in which we operate. Here are some examples of environmental factors that DoD is looking into from a risks/vulnerabilities assessment perspective9. Facilities: ·

precipitation patterns affect water availability · storm frequency and flooding affect maintenance costs for roads, utilities and runways
· storm frequency and flooding affect flood control and erosion control measures
· rising temperatures increase energy costs for building and industrial base operations
· coastal flooding and storm surge affect coastal infrastructure and cost of infrastructure
reinforcement and other modifications
· coastal flooding affect the demand for surface water resources and associated cost of
saltwater intrusion countermeasures
· inland and coastal flooding may affect future land availability and siting of new
construction Operations high temperatures may affect airlift capacity and change operational parameters for equipment
· higher temperatures increase operational health risks precipitation patterns affect land carrying capacity for vehicle maneuvers
7 2008 National Defense Strategy
8 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review
9 2012 Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan, Appendix 2
· increased storm frequency and intensity may cause temporary or prolonged disruption of operations ·

flooding disrupts access to water crossings and river operations
· flooding increases transportation infrastructure damage
· coastal flooding and storm surge may have impacts on supply chain from potential
shipping interruptions
Training:
· high-heat days cause training day limitations
· rising temperatures reduce live-fire training
· changes in precipitation patterns affect availability of training lands
· coastal flooding and storm surge impacts littoral and shore training and ranges
Missions
· environmental degradation may increase the potential for conflict or humanitarian crises · extreme weather events may lead to increased demands for defense support to civil
authorities for humanitarian assistance or disaster response10
To maintain military resiliency and readiness, DoD has started to look into mission sustainability. This is in compliance with US Government policy for agencies to become more efficient in the use of energy, greenhouse gas emissions, use of water resources and
management of waste.11 The DoD’s vision of sustainability is to maintain the ability to operate into the future without decline – either in the mission or in the natural and manufactured systems that support it. Many key issues facing DoD can be addressed through smart investments that improve sustainability as well as promote the mission, such as using energy and water more efficiently, acquiring more energy from renewable sources, designing buildings for high performance, reducing the use of toxic and hazardous chemicals, and optimally managing solid waste12. The DoD Services has initiated plans and actions to become more sustainable and resilient. The following information is as reported in the 2012 DoD Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan:

Army: The Army conducted a comprehensive review of environmental programs in FY 2011,
including an evaluation of environmental staffing levels across the Army, to ensure that Army
organizations are successfully postured to support both the mission and sustainability goals.
The Army also merged its energy and sustainability governance structures in October 2011
into a single Senior Energy and Sustainability Council that serves to institutionalize energy
and sustainability in doctrine, policy, training, operations and acquisitions across the entire
Army enterprise. The Army incorporated sustainability as a “foundation” concept embedded
across the Army Campaign Plan strategy map, where one of the objectives is to “achieve
energy security and sustainability objectives.” Finally, the Army launched its cross-cutting Net
Zero Initiative in April 2011, a holistic approach to energy, water, and waste that directly
supports the Army's energy security and sustainability objectives.
10 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review
11 2009 Presidential Executive Order 13514
12 2011 Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan
Navy: In the Navy, the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV) Energy and Environmental
Readiness Division was created in May 2010, combining the existing OPNAV Environmental
Readiness Division and the Navy's Task Force Energy. Since then, the division has
developed many cross-cutting sustainability initiatives, such as the incorporation of
sustainability considerations into ship and weapons system design processes and promoting
sustainability through Navy outreach efforts. The Department of the Navy (DON) is in the
process of revising its Environmental Readiness Program Manual (OPNAV Instruction
5090.1C) to specifically include information on sustainability and the DoD SSPP. The revision
is expected to be published in FY 2013.
Air Force: The Air Force has moved to Sustainable Infrastructure Assessments, which
combine energy and water audits, facility condition assessments, space optimization
assessments, and High Performance and Sustainable Building assessments into a single
activity. In October 2011, the Air Force issued its Environmental Management System
Standardization Methodology and Approach policy memo, and in November 2011 updated its
Environmental Management Instruction. These actions formally establish environmental
management systems (EMSs) across the enterprise as the core framework for continual
program and process improvement to achieve and attain sustainability and compliance goals.
Later in FY 2012, the Air Force will issue a policy on achieving a “net zero” posture for Air
Force installation water, energy and solid waste. The net zero actions will build upon and
complement the new EMS policies and ES-2 other existing Air Force strategic sustainability
policy and goals, providing a systemic, cross-cutting blueprint that embeds sustainability into
Air Force operations.
In a regional context, we recognize that with the promotion of sustainability practices we
contribute to international resiliency and the Department’s goal of conflict prevention as
outlined in the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review. 13

• Prospective pics….

Figure 1 Hurricane Mitch in El Salvador
Figure 2 “From Conflict to Peacebuilding: The Role of Natural Resources and the Environment”, United Nations Environmental Program, 2009
[Type text] Page 14

USA
Our leadership in the Department of Defense (DoD) has been considering different aspects of
environmental and energy issues and potential effects on US Military facilities, operations,
training and missions we undertake.
Over the last five years, US national security and defense guidance have highlighted the
potential effects of environmental stressors in the future security environment. Physical
pressures such as population, resources, energy, climatic and environmental, could combine
with rapid social, cultural, technological and geopolitical change to create greater
uncertainty.7 Subsequent guidance brought attention to the uncertain effects of climate
change to the physical environment and the relation to the military missions. While climate
change alone does not cause conflict, it may act as an accelerant of instability or conflict,
placing a burden to respond on civilian institutions and militaries around the world. 8
Environmental factors have the potential to directly affect our military forces as we are
supported by the physical environment in which we operate. Here are some examples of
environmental factors that DoD is looking into from a risks/vulnerabilities assessment
perspective9.
Facilities:
· precipitation patterns affect water availability
· storm frequency and flooding affect maintenance costs for roads, utilities and runways
· storm frequency and flooding affect flood control and erosion control measures
· rising temperatures increase energy costs for building and industrial base operations
· coastal flooding and storm surge affect coastal infrastructure and cost of infrastructure
reinforcement and other modifications
· coastal flooding affect the demand for surface water resources and associated cost of
saltwater intrusion countermeasures
· inland and coastal flooding may affect future land availability and siting of new
construction
Operations
· high temperatures may affect airlift capacity and change operational parameters for
equipment
· higher temperatures increase operational health risks
· precipitation patterns affect land carrying capacity for vehicle maneuvers
7 2008 National Defense Strategy
8 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review
9 2012 Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan, Appendix 2
· increased storm frequency and intensity may cause temporary or prolonged disruption of
operations
· flooding disrupts access to water crossings and river operations
· flooding increases transportation infrastructure damage
· coastal flooding and storm surge may have impacts on supply chain from potential
shipping interruptions
Training:
· high-heat days cause training day limitations
· rising temperatures reduce live-fire training
· changes in precipitation patterns affect availability of training lands
· coastal flooding and storm surge impacts littoral and shore training and ranges
Missions
· environmental degradation may increase the potential for conflict or humanitarian crises
· extreme weather events may lead to increased demands for defense support to civil
authorities for humanitarian assistance or disaster response10
To maintain military resiliency and readiness, DoD has started to look into mission
sustainability. This is in compliance with US Government policy for agencies to become
more efficient in the use of energy, greenhouse gas emissions, use of water resources and
management of waste.11 The DoD’s vision of sustainability is to maintain the ability to
operate into the future without decline – either in the mission or in the natural and
manufactured systems that support it. Many key issues facing DoD can be addressed
through smart investments that improve sustainability as well as promote the mission, such
as using energy and water more efficiently, acquiring more energy from renewable sources,
designing buildings for high performance, reducing the use of toxic and hazardous chemicals,
and optimally managing solid waste12.
The DoD Services has initiated plans and actions to become more sustainable and resilient.
The following information is as reported in the 2012 DoD Strategic Sustainability Performance
Plan:
Army: The Army conducted a comprehensive review of environmental programs in FY 2011,
including an evaluation of environmental staffing levels across the Army, to ensure that Army
organizations are successfully postured to support both the mission and sustainability goals.
The Army also merged its energy and sustainability governance structures in October 2011
into a single Senior Energy and Sustainability Council that serves to institutionalize energy
and sustainability in doctrine, policy, training, operations and acquisitions across the entire
Army enterprise. The Army incorporated sustainability as a “foundation” concept embedded
across the Army Campaign Plan strategy map, where one of the objectives is to “achieve
energy security and sustainability objectives.” Finally, the Army launched its cross-cutting Net
Zero Initiative in April 2011, a holistic approach to energy, water, and waste that directly
supports the Army's energy security and sustainability objectives.
10 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review
11 2009 Presidential Executive Order 13514
12 2011 Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan
Navy: In the Navy, the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV) Energy and Environmental
Readiness Division was created in May 2010, combining the existing OPNAV Environmental
Readiness Division and the Navy's Task Force Energy. Since then, the division has
developed many cross-cutting sustainability initiatives, such as the incorporation of
sustainability considerations into ship and weapons system design processes and promoting
sustainability through Navy outreach efforts. The Department of the Navy (DON) is in the
process of revising its Environmental Readiness Program Manual (OPNAV Instruction
5090.1C) to specifically include information on sustainability and the DoD SSPP. The revision
is expected to be published in FY 2013.
Air Force: The Air Force has moved to Sustainable Infrastructure Assessments, which
combine energy and water audits, facility condition assessments, space optimization
assessments, and High Performance and Sustainable Building assessments into a single
activity. In October 2011, the Air Force issued its Environmental Management System
Standardization Methodology and Approach policy memo, and in November 2011 updated its
Environmental Management Instruction. These actions formally establish environmental
management systems (EMSs) across the enterprise as the core framework for continual
program and process improvement to achieve and attain sustainability and compliance goals.
Later in FY 2012, the Air Force will issue a policy on achieving a “net zero” posture for Air
Force installation water, energy and solid waste. The net zero actions will build upon and
complement the new EMS policies and ES-2 other existing Air Force strategic sustainability
policy and goals, providing a systemic, cross-cutting blueprint that embeds sustainability into
Air Force operations.
In a regional context, we recognize that with the promotion of sustainability practices we
contribute to international resiliency and the Department’s goal of conflict prevention as
outlined in the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review. 13