Dr Melissa Ladyman

Environmental Chemistry Lecturer, Cranfield University

From green chemistry to cleaner explosives, education and research at the Defence Academy is supporting defence to meet the challenges of climate change.

“Becoming sustainable isn’t about preventing progress or telling people they can’t operate in a certain environment. It’s about understanding the science, and enabling people to embed through-life sustainable practices across defence projects.”Female scientist working in a lab

Training and research programmes are improving awareness of the impact of climate change on operational capability. This includes equipping defence managers with the tools to integrate an environmentally holistic approach to long-term projects, starting with sustainable procurement and continuing through operations to safe decommissioning.

“Uniforms, munitions, tanks, nuclear submarines – everything has to have a disposal plan and project managers must be able to account for potential future environmental challenges from the outset. That’s why our training looks at the whole picture. We’re communicating that we can make things sustainable, and that this brings real financial and reputational benefits for defence.”

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