CONTACT

Environmental Policy

The Ministry of Defence, along with the Armed Forces, as the leading body of national power has determined its environmental strategy in the entire range of its activities with the outmost respect to business readiness as well as to the protection of the environment. The environmental strategy of the Ministry of Defence is implemented today by the Environmental Committee of the Ministry of Defence with the acting Permanent Secretary serving as its chairman. 

The Ministry’s environmental committee was formed in 2005 and is comprised of 5 members: 2 members come from the Ministry’s Technical Services, of whom one acts as the Committee Secretary, and 3 members come from the ranks of the National Guard. The Committee’s main goal is to create an Environmental Policy in the Ministry of Defence which stems from Cyprus’s membership in the European Union and the implementation of various environmental programs. Since its creation, the Ministry’s Environmental Committee, implements the Governmental Policy with regards to the environment, climate change and issues relating to the fruitful use of natural resources and raw materials, in full accordance with Community Guidelines and International Treaties.

The most important environmental programs/activities that the Ministry’s Environmental Committee has developed, promoted and carried out during the past 13 years include:

  • Programs which aim to increase the environmental awareness of the Ministry’s Staff, members and soldiers of the National Guard, making use of the Armed Forces as a means of understanding and developing the environmental awareness of the Republic of Cyprus’s future citizens.
  • The monitoring and management of the environmental performance of the basic activities of the MoD through the application and implementation of its Environmental Management Systems (EMAS), 
  • The incorporation of the Sustainable Ecological Development (SED) in the structured framework, with the adoption of its criteria, principles and guidelines in the design of the new premises of the MoD and the of the National Guard, and also during the maintenance and renovation of its old premises,
  • The participation of the MoD in the Green Public Treaties National Action Plan,
  • The implementation of measures in order to reduce the production of waste in military premises, promoting measures of sustainable consumption (reduction of overconsumption, choice of environmentally friendly products) and measures that prevent the production of waste,
  • The implementation of the environmentally correct management and distribution of waste through recycling programs in cooperation with the Department of Environment and Green Dot Cyprus, and programs for the management of dangerous and non-dangerous waste,
  • The implementation of recycling programs and the reuse of recycled materials in all National Guard military bases,
  • Furthering its cooperation with the Department of Environment during the preparation stage and the implementation of management plans for the other areas that have National Guard premises. 
  • Cooperation programs with organisations, academic Institutions, governmental services, both within, as well as outside of Cyprus (Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment, Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry, University of Frederick, Hellenic Ministry of Defence, Defence Environmental Network (DEFNET), European Defence Agency (EDA), etc,
  • Development and implementation of the Eco Management and Audit Scheme according to the EMAS European Regulation, in 5 military camps of the National Guard (Camps T. Markou, M. Georgalla, P. Katelari, An. Papandreou Military Base, Ev. Florakis Naval Base) following the successful implementation of EMAS in the L.G. “Stylianos Kalmpourtzi” military base in Delikipos. For your information this was the first military base in Europe in which the Eco Management and Audit Scheme according to the EMAS was implemented, a first that was recognised and published at a European level as “Best practice” from the European Defence Agency and the European Committee.
  • The carrying out of an Environmental Management Study for the operation of the Xydous and Kalo Chorio fields of fire.

 

The first phase of the program “Smart Blue Water Camp” of the European Defence Agency was completed for the “Makis Giorgallas” military camp in Mathiatis. In this program the Ministries of Defence of six countries took place (Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland) under the command of the Ministry of Defence of Greece.