Background
A number of reports suggest exceptionally high rates of greenhouse gas emissions, pollution and use of non-renewable resources from the defence sector. The sector, itself, now recognizes that climate change, particularly in the form of the increasing number of extreme weather events, rising sea levels and desertification can potentially accelerate insecurity and armed conflict. Since defence accounts for 50% of UK, and 80% of US, Government greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, decarbonisation of the defence sector is also vital to achieve the UK and US Governments’ net-zero ambitions. Defence organisations in the US, UK and beyond are now addressing sustainability in recent reports, statements, innovations and strategies. However, worker voices are largely absent in this process.
“Labour will either support decarbonisation, or they will oppose decarbonisation. That will be based on whether we do have that Just Transition, or not”
— Male defence worker, US
This study highlights the views of a cross-section of current and former defence workers on transitioning the defence sector to environmental sustainability in the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK). It is framed by the ethos of ‘Just Transition’ (JT), a call for securing workers’ and communities’ rights and livelihoods when shifting to sustainable production. Within the JT framework, this project focuses on ‘decarbonisation’ and ‘diversification’ as two key processes that are particularly relevant to defence.
Method
The main strand of the project was a ‘workers' enquiry’, a method that encourages workers to think about and articulate their situation in the productive process. Fifty-eight interviews were carried out with current and former defence sector workers in the US and the UK between October 2021 and March 2022. Two trans-national focus groups were also conducted: (1) An ‘International Expert Dialogue’ and (2) an ‘International Trade Union Dialogue’. Participants included the International Trade Union Confederation, and key unions with defence sector members in the US and the UK. The project was supported by an advisory committee with representatives from defence companies, government, NGOs, academia and trade unions in the US and the UK. Policy recommendations were developed by triangulating the data collected with a literature review, document analysis and advisory committee inputs.
“I think there’s a lot more to it than just environmental benefits with decarbonisation. There is an increase in resilience of our supply chain if we can…wean ourselves off reliance on fossil fuels”
— Male defence worker, UK
Further Information
The project was led Dr Karen Bell at the University of Glasgow. She can be contacted at: karen.bell.2@glasgow.ac.uk
This project is based on independent research funded by the British Academy under the ‘Just Transition in Sectors Globally’ programme (project number COVJT210036).