Select committee: Defence Committee
Conclusion 11
Eighth Report - Defence and Climate Change
Published 18 Aug 2023
Paragraph 78
Addressed to Ministry of Defence
Defence Committee Defence and Climate Change All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The Ministry of Defence is in line to achieve its Greening Government Commitments’ carbon reduction targets early, but these are insufficiently demanding. It appears that the Ministry can meet its targets entirely by taking advantage of the decarbonisation of the National Grid. Targets are hardly stretching if they can be met without any effort, especially for a department that produces half of all central government emissions. For the next round of Greening Government Commitments from 2025– 2030, Defence should ensure its targets are more demanding and accompanied by plans to achieve them.
From: Defence Committee, Eighth Report - Defence and Climate Change (HC 179), paragraph 78, 18 August 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 8 November 2023 (deadline 18 October 2023).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The MOD welcomes the inquiry and says its climate work is "already aligned to many of the Inquiry's recommendations", while stating that it will "never damage our national security for the sake of sustainability targets".
- On the Committee's recommendation for more demanding Science Based Targets, the MOD says it is "currently not planning on using Science Based Targets", because they "could undermine or drive perverse decisions" about current capabilities.
- On independent verification of emissions and a standalone annual climate report, it says there are "no plans" for either, citing the scale and complexity of its activities for verification.
- On separate emissions reporting by Top Level Budget holders, the MOD says only that it "will assess whether" these organisations' emissions "should also be reported" in its Annual Reports and Accounts.
- On the housing stock and MACA tasks, it commits to timed reviews: an accommodation investment strategy review "planned to conclude by the end of 2023" and a DSTL review of MACA and HADR activity "to be complete by end 2023".