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[EN VIDÉO] Global warming: our planet in unknown territory In the preliminary version – which only covers the first nine months of 2021 – of its annual State of the Global Climate report, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirms the trend of global warming. For the first time, the bar of a rise of 1°C compared to pre-industrial averages has been crossed over the period of the last twenty years. But the report above all highlights the many extreme weather phenomena that have occurred in 2021 and their consequences for the planet and for humanity. © World Meteorological Organization
Published on April 25, this report Climate and Defense aims to prepare the French army for the challenges of climate change, but also to participate in government objectives to reduce greenhouse gases and protect the environment. The public document states: By amplifying risks and threats, climate change is already affecting international peace and security. The acceleration of the process of global warming will exacerbate tensions of all kinds, likely to lead to open crises or even conflicts. This will increasingly affect the international strategic context as well as the conditions for carrying out missions and the capabilities of the armed forces, which are major players in matter defence, peacekeeping and crisis management. »
Peace and security are threatened by climate change
Global warming is indeed a major challenge for international peace and security”but also ” an amplifier of risks and threats”, according to the report. Climate change is already having an impact on food resources and water and will make some uninhabitable regions, causing an influx of climate refugees to countries like France. To anticipate the coming crisisthe army’s mission is to establish a map of climate risks and to strengthen monitoring and research instruments, in particular the Climate & Defense Observatory created in 2016. Collaboration with organizations such as Weather report France, the Cnes, or even the Institute Pierre-Simon Laplacea benchmark for climate research, will be increased.
But the will of the Ministry of the Armed Forces is also to anticipate all the problems linked to more extreme weather conditions: the resistance troops facing the heatthe increasing demands in humanitarian relief operations linked to natural disasters, the risk of epidemics linked to population displacementsor the impact of more extreme temperatures, or humidity, on military equipment…
The French army is committed to a “green defense”
France has undertaken to reduce its emissions greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% between 1990 and 2030 and to reach the carbon neutrality in 2050. The Ministry of the Armed Forces announces that it participates in achieving these objectives and protecting the environment. The organization manages nearly 275,000 hectares of land mainly intended for the training of forces. Some of these lands are protected natural areas. The vegetation of these natural environments (forests, meadows, moors, etc.) traps carbon in the soil and helps to mitigate climate change. In partnership with the Federation of Conservatories of Natural Spaces, the Ministry of the Armed Forces announces that it ” engages in research actions to assess the carbon stock present in military sites and optimize the management of natural areas to increase storage capacities”. The army also undertakes to continue working on industrial soil depollution operations (hydrocarbon, metals heavy…) in order to regenerate the natural capacity of environments to resist the effects of climate change.
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