DON has undertaken a comprehensive and multifaceted approach to address the urgent national security challenges posed by climate change. Through robust collaboration with partners, stakeholders, and experts in the field, the Department implemented a range of innovative measures that promote national security, force modernization, reduce energy demand, and enhance the survivability, adaptability, and lethality of our operations. One of these innovative measures was the issuance of a series of memorandums as DON Chief Sustainability Officer to set and shape the Department’s sustainability policies and practices.
“The Department of the Navy is committed to ensuring that the Navy and Marine Corps is the world’s greatest maritime fighting force and the partner of choice for our international allies and partners,” said Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Energy, Installations, and Environment) and Chief Sustainability Officer Meredith Berger. “We do that by maintaining every competitive advantage, and for that reason we forcefully confront the national security threats posed by climate change. Through collaborative and innovative efforts, our Sailors, Marines, and dedicated civilians have demonstrated that climate readiness is mission readiness.”
Some of the major DON accomplishments from the last year include:
- The Naval Postgraduate School and The Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability established an educational partnership to combine research expertise and resources to explore and address the increasing challenges of global climate change, energy security, and sustainability for the military. The DON conducted two climate-focused tabletop exercises which examined the impacts that climate change has on mission, readiness, and warfighting capacity.
- Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany became the Department of Defense’s first energy “net-zero” military installation. MCLB Albany’s energy improvements save hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars each year and reduce local pollution by utilizing clean energy and diverting landfill methane pollution into power. The improvements make the base and surrounding community more resilient to energy disruptions, and better equipped to fulfill its primary mission: ensuring that Marines around the world have what they need to fight and win.
- The Navy and the Port of San Diego signed a first-of-its-kind agreement to participate in the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard credit market. The Navy generated Low Carbon Fuel Standard credits equivalent to $4.5 million by limiting emissions of greenhouse gasses from pier side ships at Naval Base San Diego, and it will reinvest these savings into energy infrastructure.
- The Navy installed the advanced Global Energy Information Systems (GENISYS) upgrade in twenty-three Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers. GENISYS collects, consolidates, processes, and presents energy data that gives commanders the ability to make informed decisions on energy usage, availability, and efficiency.
Year in Numbers:
- 595,000 trees planted on DON lands
- 240,000 tons of carbon to be sequestered annually by 2050 from revegetation and restoration projects
- 926 electric vehicles ordered across DON
- 3 new microgrid projects awarded
- 10 installation natural infrastructure assessments
- 2 installation resilience plans finalized
- 6% reduction in purchased electricity from FY21 to FY22
DON Chief Sustainability Officer Serial Memos:
The Department of the Navy’s Sailors, Marines, and civilians are continuously identifying innovative practices and solutions to the Department’s complex problems. In order to tap into this innovation happening at the installation, team, and individual level, as well as to harness the best ideas to meet its climate and sustainability goals, interested members of the DON community are encouraged to contribute their ideas and information through the Department's climate website: www.secnav.navy.mil/climate. If the Department proceeds with a submitted idea, they will be recognized by the Assistant Secretary (Energy, Installations, and Environment) to the individual(s) involved. This new website also features EI&E-focused news from around the DON and a one-stop-shop for all EI&E resources.
The Department’s Climate Action 2030 strategy document is available for download here.