Canada will play a key role in enhancing NATO’s innovation advantage and developing its response to climate change.
At the three-day NATO summit in Madrid, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canadian officials are expected to expose Canada’s drive to launch DIANA, the North Atlantic’s Defense Innovation Accelerator , as well as the NATO Center for Excellence in Security and Climate Change.
Canadian initiatives come when Sweden and Finland reached an advanced agreement with Turkey that will allow the two historically neutral Nordic countries, both fearful of Russian aggression, to join NATO. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had opposed the speedy admission for weeks, accusing them of supporting Turkish militant groups, especially the PKK – the Kurdistan Workers’ Party – which Turkey, along with the Canada, the United States and the European Union, he considers. a terrorist group.
On Tuesday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg largely dedicated the public opening forum of the summit to the threats of climate change. He announced a 45 percent emission reduction target for NATO operations in 2030, and zero net in 2050. “It won’t be easy, but it can be done,” he said.
DIANA and the NATO Climate Center will have offices in Canada, although their exact locations were not known on Tuesday, the opening day of the three-day summit. Toronto or Montreal seem the most likely places for your headquarters.
NATO announced the formation of DIANA in April, but gave few details of the effort and said only that “Canada is actively seeking to host the US regional office.” The alliance has already decided that Britain and Estonia will jointly host the DIANA European office.
The launch of DIANA marks a new NATO initiative, which merges the alliance’s technology and defense staff with technology companies and scientific researchers. The center and its partners will have access to dozens of technology accelerators and test sites between NATO countries.
Innovations to make NATO forces more adaptable to climate change will be a DIANA project. For example, the alliance wants batteries that can operate efficiently in very hot, uniform climates that can keep soldiers comfortable in extreme temperatures.
Artificial intelligence, big data processing, quantum technologies, biotechnology and new materials are other areas that DIANA will focus on.
“Working with the private sector and academia, allies will ensure that we can make the most of the new technology for transatlantic security,” Stoltenberg said in April.
DIANA will have the support of a new fund, worth 1 billion euros (the equivalent of almost $ 1.4 billion), which NATO presents as the first multi-sovereign venture capital fund, which would promote the alliance in the technology investment market.
Start-up tech companies would be eligible to get $ 200,000 from the fund over a one-year period, said a Canadian defense official, who did not want to be identified because he is not allowed to speak to the media.
So far, 24 of the 30 NATO member states have agreed to contribute to the fund. Canada is not yet among the collaborators. The reasons for his lack of registration were not known on Tuesday. Historically, Canada has been lagging in defense spending. NATO wants member states to contribute the equivalent of 2% of GDP to defense. NATO estimates that this year’s Canadian figure will be just 1.27 per cent.
Neither Canadian officials from the NATO mission in Brussels nor the Minister of Defense of Canada could be contacted to comment on Tuesday.
At Tuesday’s public forum, Mr. Stoltenberg identified climate change as one of the major threats facing the alliance. Climate change is a “crisis multiplier” that can trigger conflicts, he said.
It wants NATO member states to reduce their military’s carbon emissions by using renewable fuels instead of oil; launch an assessment of how climate change, such as rising water levels, could affect naval bases and other crucial military sites; and increase climate monitoring and monitoring systems to identify regions most at risk of extreme drought, forest fires and famine.
Canada, through the Department of National Defense and Global Affairs of Canada, had pressured NATO to establish the Center of Excellence on Climate Change and Security for some time. NATO approved the concept, which Mr. Trudeau presented at the 2021 NATO summit last month.
The site will be funded by Canada, although individual NATO countries will pay to send their climate experts to the Canadian site. The cost of setting up the office has not been revealed.
In a May press release, Ottawa said the center “will be a platform through which both military and civilian actors will develop, improve and share knowledge about the security impacts of climate change. It will also enable participants working together to build the necessary capabilities and best practices and contribute to NATO’s goal of reducing the climate impact of our military activities. “
Mr. Stoltenberg spoke of the use of fuels such as hydrogen to power military machinery. He said NATO could not delay the zero net targets of other countries. “It would not be good for the military if we continue to be the only fossil fuel sector in the world,” he said.
NATO has about 30 centers of excellence spread across member states. Canada contributes half a dozen, including the Cyber Defense Center in Estonia, which supports Ukraine in its war with Russia, and the Strategic Communications Center in Latvia.
The text of the memorandum of understanding that would allow Sweden and Finland to join NATO, a measure that would underpin the alliance’s relatively weak northeastern flank, was not released on Tuesday afternoon, so it was not immediately known what concessions, if any, two countries made to break the resistance of Turkey.
“I am delighted to conclude this stage of Finland’s path towards NATO membership,” a statement from the Finnish president’s office said. “I now look forward to fruitful talks on Finland’s role in NATO with our future allies here in Madrid.”
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