A política ambiental e a defesa nacional

Abstract

The activities developed in the area of National Defence are likely to present adverse consequences to the environment, resulting from the activity of the three branches of the Armed Forces: Army, Navy and Air Force. The environmental protection component should, therefore, be coordinated and harmonised with the fulfilling of their mission, in other words, with the objectives of any branches of the Armed Forces, but in line with the government's environmental policy, contributing to the effective preservation of the environment and to the sustainable development of society. Aware of the importance of environmental protection, the Ministry of National Defence promulgated the Environmental Directive for National Defence, corresponding to the Order of the Ministry of National Defence nº 6484/2011, which describes the principles to achieve in the coming decade: sustainability; prevention and precaution, the transversal and the rational use of natural resources, knowing that the environmental policy of National Defence must be upheld in all activities and bodies under the Ministry of National Defence. In this paper, we will briefly refer to each of these guidelines of Environmental Directive for National Defence as well as the reference to the National Defence Environmental Award. We will also look at an example of good environmental practices, in this case the Army Camp at Santa Margarida, which has already received the National Defence Environmental Award and has an environmental certificate.