Global action to fight climate change
Climate change is one of the great global challenges of our time. Governments, civil society and industry are urgently working to mitigate climate change. Targets have been agreed at international, EU, and national levels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate change is one of the great global challenges of our time. Governments, civil societies and industry are urgently working to mitigate climate change and adapt to a warming Earth.
The Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change, seeks to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Signatory countries are committed to reducing man-made greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and levels of carbon dioxide. In 2019, the European Climate Law set the goal for the European Union to be climate neutral by 2050.
Many countries have prepared transition strategies for their entire economies. In the defence sector, both the demand side (national governments with the armed forces as end-users) and the supply side (the defence industry) can contribute to the global effort of reducing GHG emissions. A number of European countries have incorporated specific milestones for the decarbonisation of defence activities into their national or military climate strategies.
- The Paris AgreementRead the Paris Agreement, signed in 2015, which brings countries together to combat climate change and adapt to its effects.
- The European Climate LawRead about the European Climate Law that committed EU countries to reaching the goal for Europe’s economy and society to become climate-neutral by 2050.
- The defence implications of climate change for EuropeRead a report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies on how European countries have incorporated milestones for the decarbonisation of defence activities