Speeches
Minister of Defence Carl Haglund at the European Conference of Defence and the Environment
Speech by Minister of Defence Carl Haglund at the European Conference of Defence and the Environment
21 of May 2013, House of the Estates, Helsinki
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon. It is a great pleasure for me to join you all today at this first of its kind European event which brings together professionals in the field of environmental protection within the defence sector. I am very pleased to acknowledge that we have representatives not only from the majority of EU countries but also from across the Atlantic.
Environmental issues are part of the most important mega trends impacting the society today. In all nations, chemicalisation of our environment, scarcity of natural resources, declining bio-diversity and climate change influence all facets of our daily lives and all areas of society, also the defence sector. The implications to defence are manyfold. In the future it is expected that environmental issues will play an increasingly significant role in global security policy. Desertification, lack of pure water and extreme weather conditions are examples of phenomena that create social unrest and may function as triggers to developing crisis. A more, if you will, mundane example is that climate change attenuation impacts, for example, the price of energy and requirements in energy efficiency. The defence administration is the largest property user within the public administration in Finland and already real estate expenses account for more than 10 % of the defence budget. This means that the economic impacts of climate change policy alone will have a substantial effect on defence administration.
Our main focus now and in the future will be, however, on the environmental effects of training the troops, running the defence infrastructure and participating in military crisis management operations. When we talk about crisis management, the first environmental goal for us – the troop contributing nations – should be to make sure that we do not accelerate the crisis with our own actions. We should not for example use local natural resources such as water in an unsustainable way that endangers potable water production for the locals. In fact, we should try to set an example of correct and sustainable actions. We should respect the host nation’s legislation to the best of our ability within the framework of what is possible due to operative reasons. We should also remember that low-level environmental protection in the theatre does not mean that the local community would not expect more from us. In military crisis management the operative goal comes first and sometimes that sets restrictions to the level of environmental protection which is possible to achieve. The environmental protection can and should be enhanced step by step as the operation evolves. That said, it is no secret that rather often the duration of operations is underestimated which results in too many interim solutions. Better sustainability could often be achieved with more forethought.
Usually nations are not alone in operations. Each of us sends our own contingents and we serve together, often even share camps. Finland, Sweden and the United States have worked closely together in developing the environmental protection of international operations. In 2008, these nations developed in cooperation a guidebook that has been very well received in the international community. This work has significantly influenced the development of the UN, EU and NATO guidance which are all based on similar principles. The trilateral work has continued with a project that focuses on developing education material for commanders, soldiers and environmental specialists. This work is nearly completed and will be published during this year. We are confident that it will find a wide audience. When we train, whether in our own country or during missions, it is our duty as actors to strive for a high level of environmental protection. More and more, this general principle is concretised in detailed legal requirements. In Finland, as I believe is the case in most European nations, the defence administration tries to fulfill all legal requirements as far as is feasibly possible without endangering the primary tasks of defence. If environmental protection is neglected or the applicable environmental law does not take the requirements of defence into account, this may result in so-called negative training. Negative training means that the Defence Forces are not able to prepare for crisis time tasks in realistic conditions, which in turn may lead to lower preparedness and decreased capabilities.
I believe that to avoid such adverse aftereffects we should focus on arranging the planning and execution of all actions in a way that takes environmental aspects into consideration. Environmental consideration needs to be integrated in all facets of different processes. To facilitate this, the planners and decision-makers need accurate information on environmental impacts and especially how to minimize them. You as the specialists play a key role in providing this information. The most effective reduction of environmental impacts can be achieved with well-timed action. Let’s take a heavy weapons system as an example: most of the life-time environmental impacts are actually decided on when the decisions to acquire the system is made. When different technical solutions are being compared we should consider what kind of environmental boot-print the system will have. What harmful substances have been used to produce it, how much energy will it need to run, what are the discharges from the maintenance, where can its use be trained? What are the noise emissions? What is the dud rate of the weapon and how perfectly will the explosions of ammunition occur?
To take these environmental aspects into consideration does not have to mean – in fact it rarely means – that the environmental performance of the system would be a decisive factor when contemplating all criteria before acquisition. That all these aspects have been included sends a strong message to the manufacturers of the systems. The mere requirement to provide detailed information of noise emissions or harmful substances, for example, will drive the manufacturer to consider these questions. We should also always remember that high quality maintenance can often extend the life-time of materiel, which relieves the need to cast off old and buy new materiel thus providing both environmental and economic benefits. This aspect, I believe, has to be at the core of environmental policy in general – environmental sustainability is not a burden, but an economic imperative.
To integrate environmental concerns into decision-making procedures, a part of the strategy of the Finnish Ministry of Defence is devoted to community and environmental policy. The defence administration also runs a programme for sustainable development. The Defence Forces and the Construction Establishment of Defence Administration have agreed on new environmental policies. The administration has also just published its environmental report which covers the achievements and areas for improvement of the last three years.
We must acknowledge that, no matter how thorough the planning, military training always causes environmental effects such as noise and some level of pollution. We need to find ways to train the troops and eventually get rid of obsolete materiel in the most sustainable way. For training, shooting ranges and training areas are required. Historically the Finnish defence administration was given mostly forest areas that were not very productive from the forestry point of view. Unfortunately today these are known as some of the most important ground water areas in Finland. As almost everywhere in the world, the defence administration in Finland has also been confronted with encroachment issues. Tightening legal requirements, the raised awareness in society and the vast nature values present in numerous defence estates underline the high importance of environmental matters. General Rotonen will soon give us an overview of the efforts that the Finnish Defence Forces together with the Construction Establishment has put in environmental protection.
Even though we try to fulfill all the legal requirements, it is not always possible. Although preventing wars is indeed a very green thing to do, the building of defensive capabilities does call for actions such as training with live fire or with fighter planes. These are by their very nature and especially by their environmental impacts such that most likely they would not be allowed in civil society even when they are executed with great care, as is the case with the Defence Forces. But they are a necessary part of defence activity. Therefore national defence does need some distinct exemptions in environmental law. Most of the environmental legislation originates from the EU level. This means that it is natural to work together in the European Union and look at best practices and ways to improve our environmental performance. We can also together provide the Commission and the European Parliament with information on our sector’s needs and, when necessary, try to impact the proposals to take the defence aspects better into consideration. The EU Defnet –network – which is going to have its secretariat meeting here in Helsinki just after this conference - can play an important role in this work. In addition to that, it is our wish that the Commission strengthens its impact assessment in the area of defence. The Defnet members including Finland have some ideas to promote the aforementioned goal.
In addition to international and EU level cooperation and the partnership for peace with NATO, Finland considers Nordic defence cooperation very fruitful. As small countries with similar values, legislation, culture, climate and geology, working together comes natural to us. Nordic cooperation today ranges from unofficial bilateral meetings to more structured establishments such as NORDEFCO. NORDEFCO has dealt with issues concerning the use of shooting and training areas and there is an environmental group which specialises in hazardous materials. Our common goal is to intensify Nordic cooperation and we certainly have similar interests in areas such as the environment.
I take this opportunity to wish the conference great success and I also wish you all an enjoyable stay in Helsinki.
Thank you.