The Resilience Brief

So far, The Resilience Brief series has discussed a wide range of themes, to identify the environmental threat, risks and opportunities to militaries, both now and in the future. But how is NATO cohering this plethora of activity and what is it prioritising moving forwards? The Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (NATO) joins the virtual recording studio to share his signal to The Resil...

  This episode of the TRB discusses the problem of aligning military knowledge and understanding with the expertise of industry. Experts from academia and industry share their view on the role of personnel in facilitating research and development as they conduct the search for technological solutions to climate challenges. So far, The Resilience Brief series has explored the ways in which climate...

In this episode, guest speakers examine how approaches to climate change vary geographically, specifically looking at how our allies and adversaries are tackling the global north and global south. A common theme across the TRB series so far has been the military's tendency to focus internally on their individual need to adapt to extreme environments rather than mitigation of their detrimental impa...

Across society, strategies are constructed, cohered and enacted by a range of senior individuals. To date, The Resilience Brief has reflected the influence of these prominent, resilience champions, host ing a range of senior leaders. But innovation thrives within the masses - those who face the impacts of climate related challenges first-hand on a daily basis . So, what are the benefits of ' top-d...

Episodes 5-7 of TRB considered how Defence is tackling climate resilience on operations within individual domains – land, sea and air. But operations are rarely conducted in isolation. How does the conversation differ when synchronising planning and execution across multiple domains? TRB invites two MDO experts to find out more.  Multi Domain Operations, or MDO, describes the military concept of c...

Aviation fuel emissions have been an enduring issue for air forces in the fight for climate resilience. However, with developments in Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) driven by mandates, what else is on the radar for air operations? Continuing with our domain focused sub-series, episode 7 of The Resilience Brief podcast pivots to the air domain, to discuss the challenges and potential solution that...

Like land forces, navies are faced with the breadth and scale of climate related risks, so how is climate science informing conversations around maritime platforms and the future demands upon naval services? Our sub-series on domain specific risks continues with episode 6, which focuses on the unique threats and challenges for naval operations. What are the unique threats presented by a changing m...

The threat of climate change on global security means it is an area where Armed Forces must pay increasing attention. But with the challenge varying across domains, how does has it manifested into operational risks for land forces and how are they mitigating them? The first four episodes of The Resilience Brief set the scene, introducing the concept of climate change within Defence and identifying...

Defence has a tradition of short-termism when implementing climate related policies, routinely seeking to deprioritise resilience initiatives to overcome budgetary shortfalls. In this instance, Generals sight the likelihood of a significant climate related disaster as low while environmentalists might argue otherwise. Is there a trend of failing to recognise or plan appropriately and what are the...

NATO define interoperability as "The ability to act together coherently, effectively and efficiently to achieve Allied objectives". But what does it mean to achieve, or even contribute to, interoperability to achieve wider resilience? The success of NATO operations often depends on the ability of forces to work together, often as part of a multinational alliance and routinely with civil-military p...

For an armed force to be resilient, it must be able to meet its current and future needs, and to support the needs of the population(s) that it seeks to protect. The climate science community has a role to play in helping others to understand what the future world and the operating theatres within it might look like. But where should defence practitioners look to engage, and how much certainty is...

What is the relationship between climate science and resilience in the context of defence operations? In this first episode of The Resilience Brief (TRB) podcast, hosts Lt. Col. Ali Beard and Dr Sarah Ashbridge are joined by guests who can help us to bring together different strands of research to help us to navigate this very question. To kick-start the series, the TRB hosts are joined by two spe...