| Abstract: | Due to higher environmental awareness and efforts to realize sustainable goals, the environment remains an important social value. Various scientific disciplines have already pointed out some of the environmental impacts of peacetime activities of the armed forces. We note that there is a lack of academic knowledge in green criminology about specific perpetrators of environmental harm, such as the armed forces. In this dissertation, we explain the complex issue of military activity as a source of environmental threat from a green criminological perspective.
With the existing military technology in use and the way of warfare, the environmental consequences of military activities are predictable. The generic activity of the armed forces has negative consequences for the environment. The military is a major consumer of resources, a polluter, and a producer of emissions. For this reason, it can only limit negative impacts on the environment or increase its energy efficiency. The NATO military alliance promotes care for the environment, mitigating the negative environmental consequences of military activities and contributing to environmental security, whereby this orientation is also reflected in the operation of the national armed forces. The armed forces do have their internal dynamics of development, while they are primarily under civilian control in democratic systems, their tasks are based on civilian legislation, and their capabilities are conditioned by the decisions of political decision-makers and the economic power of the country.
Compared to foreign armed forces, the Slovenian armed forces and some of its peacetime activities have similar environmental impacts and thus similar environmental issues, which can lead to concern, mistrust, social opposition, or conflict if both military decision-makers and local communities do not take an appropriate approach to solving them. Even in the Republic of Slovenia, there is long-standing opposition regarding the status and military activities at the central training ground of the Slovenian armed forces.
The Slovenian Armed Forces, like foreign armed forces, face the challenge of balancing the provision of military readiness and the realization of sustainable goals. In parallel with doctrinal changes in warfare, technological modernization, and European environmental strategies, opportunities are also opening up for the Ministry of Defense with the expansion of the military-environmental complex, where the energy efficiency of the armed forces is an achievable goal. We positively assess the declarative determination of the Ministry of Defense and the Slovenian Armed Forces to contribute to the protection of the environment from the effects of military activities and the commitment to respect environmental legislation. Regarding environmental issues at the central training ground of the Slovenian Armed Forces, decision-makers should pay more attention to addressing the impacts of military activities that the population perceives as the most threatening. Environmental crime by the armed forces in the Republic of Slovenia, given its contextual characteristics, is presented as problematic on the political and geographical dimensions. |
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