MoD pledges to cut building CO2 by 15%

The Ministry of Defence has vowed to green its building stock as part of a range of measures to tackle climate change.

The government department has pledged to reduce its carbon emissions from buildings by 15% by 2012 through increased energy efficiency, reducing energy consumption and investing in more sustainable technologies.

The overall government target is to reduce emissions from the whole estate by 30% by 2020.

The MoD’s Sustainable Development Action Plan also states that the MoD will recover and recycle more waste than it sends to landfill by 2012. It claims to already recycle up to 70% of its waste.

The plan also includes targets for reducing water consumption and more sustainable procurement.

Defence secretary Des Browne said that the extent of climate change expected over the next decades will potentially present the Mod with huge security challenges.

He said: “Defence must adapt to meet these challenges by working to understand the impact on our personnel, equipment and estate. We also need to limit our impact on the environment when undertaking defence operations and activities.”