Transitioning to an to environmental sustainable defence sector

New independent research highlights the views of current and former defence workers on transitioning the defence sector to environmental sustainability. The research project entitled 'Decarbonising and diversifying defence in the US and the UK: A workers' enquiry for a Just Transition', led by the University of Glasgow, interviewed defence workers and union representatives. The study focused on the US and UK, as the two largest global defence exporters on a rolling 10-year basis ( DFiT, 2020 ). Although the workers had a range of views on transitioning defence, all expressed concerns about climate change and a desire to see decarbonisation of the sector. Dr Karen Bell, the project lead, said: "This study suggests that defence sector workers are very concerned about the impact of their industry on climate change and on other environmental problems. There were a range of views of what to do about this, even including stopping producing weapons, but almost all wanted to be involved in the discussion about how to transition the sector to greater sustainability." A male UK defence sector worker, one of the 58 defence workers involved in the in-depth interviews, stated: "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" While many said they want to be involved in the development of strategies and planning on achieving sustainability in defence, most had not been consulted on this by their company or union.