Working Together to Create a Stronger and Greener IDF

The IDF has a clear mission: to defend the civilians of Israel in the face of every threat including climate change, read more to learn how the IDF is preparing for the new reality, a threat the world is not yet familiar with.

Following an international conference on climate change, the Israeli Ground Forces initiated a climate summit to make the IDF greener.

A few weeks ago, the 2022 United Nations’ Climate Change Conference (‘COP27’) was held in Sharm El Sheikh’ , Egypt. Participation included a delegation from Israel's Ministry of Defense and several IDF commanders. Less than three weeks after their return to Israel, the Multi-Year Plan Branch in the Ground Forces’ Planning Division, in cooperation with the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), held a learning conference on climate change with a glance into the next 50 years. 

"In 2070, the climate will be radically different and adjustments need to be made in order to adapt. It may feel like a long time off, but processes like this don’t happen right away. To ensure that the IDF will be prepared, we need to begin preparations now.”– LTC Yishai, Head of the Ground Forces’ Multi-Year Plan Branch.

Extreme heat waves and large-scale sandstorms could prevent IDF troops from going on field training for many days. Continuous and thick fog can disable a soldier from seeing his fellow soldier standing a few meters away. Severe snow storms could simply reduce the soldiers’ movement capabilities. These are just a few examples of how the IDF has to train for climate change challenges that are completely different from the challenges they are facing right now.  

Over the past year, the Ground Forces and a designated task force held discussions to examine the meanings as part of a preliminary preparation procedure.

"This summit was just the beginning of our work for the climate crisis. After a day of learning, commanders from all over the IDF can understand how climate change will affect them and how they can improve given the reality.”– LTC Yishai. 

The bigger plan is still in preparation, but the Head of the Multi-Year Plan declared that several projects have already been launched. 

Projects are already in the works on how to create a greener future in the IDF. One of the projects is a pilot where we will turn organic fertilizer into gas in a technological–chemical process. The gas will then heat the water on IDF bases. Streamlining programs have also begun replacing old and high-consuming technology with new and economical ones. The most recent advancement was purchasing hybrid electric cars for the IDF. 

When it comes to climate change, the IDF is already making advancements a priority and will continue to adjust and develop plans as time .goes on