Dual-use Climate resilience is national security

Europe needs to stop seeing the climate and defence as mutually exclusive challenges

OPINION | The world is grappling with rising geopolitical tension and the accelerating climate crisis while also faced with extreme weather, volatile energy systems and the urgent need to cut emissions. Too often, these agendas are treated as competition: defence on one side, climate on the other. That division is outdated and dangerous: climate resilience is national security.

Military strategists already call climate change a “threat multiplier”. Rising seas, floods, and heatwaves weaken infrastructure and make societies more vulnerable. Grid failures don’t just darken homes; they undercut readiness. Energy dependence doesn’t just raise prices; it gives leverage to hostile powers. Russia’s war in Ukraine showed how energy systems can be both target and weapon.

The human toll is equally clear. Last year, disasters displaced 7.7 million people worldwide. By 2050, up to 216 million could be forced to migrate within their own countries because of climate impacts. Even wealthy nations are not immune. In 2022, more than 3 million Americans were displaced by hurricanes, floods or fires, and over half a million had not returned home months later.

Europe’s clean technologies serve as crucial strategic assets
When climate forces people from their homes, it stresses housing, infrastructure and social systems. Conflict, migration and climate disruption are reshaping security landscapes. Overlooking the connection between climate and security would be a grave mistake—whether in Europe or the US, where grid failures and post-disaster rebuilds show how climate shocks destabilise communities.

The technologies that make Europe more resilient to climate disruption also strengthen security. Microgrids keep bases and hospitals running when central power fails. Clean fuels and electric fleets reduce the risks of long supply chains. Low-carbon construction, from modular housing to mycelium-based insulation, enables faster, cleaner rebuilding in disaster recovery or rebuilding zones. Together, these technologies buffer both climate shocks and security threats.

Estonia has already mapped the environmental footprint of its defence and interior ministries, tracking electricity, fuel, heating, and water usage—an early step toward reducing emissions without compromising readiness, and proof that even small states can move quickly.

Dual-use innovation is another opportunity. Defence procurement has scale, urgency and discipline: qualities that accelerate commercialisation of clean technologies. The Baltics are exploring joint procurement standards and shared R&D programmes that combine defence and climate objectives. Estonia, for example, has become a sandbox—testing microgrids, clean fuels and resilient construction in real-world defence contexts. Europe needs to move from isolated pilots like these to an integrated strategy. The relevance is obvious: technologies proven in Estonia could harden countries’ bases, shorten supply chains and speed disaster recovery.

Climate objectives in procurement processes
The stakes are global as well as regional. Europe is already paying the price of high energy costs and reliance on imported materials. The only lasting way to cut costs and strengthen security is to accelerate the green transition: build renewables, expand storage and scale alternative fuels. If Europe fails to secure supply chains for batteries, hydrogen, synthetic fuels or clean steel, it risks replacing one dependency with another—swapping imported oil and gas for imported clean tech.

What to do is no mystery. Defence ministries should integrate climate targets into procurement so every investment strengthens resilience. EU and Nato members should pool resources for joint R&D and procurement, allowing smaller states access to cutting-edge technologies at scale. Supply chains for clean hydrogen, batteries and synthetic fuels should be treated as strategic assets, not just market products.

The idea that defence and climate are rivals belongs to another era. Climate change is redrawing the security map in real time. Nato, the EU and national governments have a rare chance to align two urgent agendas and turn vulnerabilities into strengths. If they succeed, the rewards will be profound: stronger deterrence, more resilient societies and leadership in the technologies that will define the next century. Defence and climate are not competing priorities. They are mutually reinforcing—and Europe cannot afford to treat them otherwise.

The author is the executive director of Cleantech for the Baltics and Cleantech Estonia

This content is funded by the European Union–NextGeneration

Originally published by Trade with Estonia