Environmental Protection

The Challenge

Maintaining high levels of naval capability and delivering effect at sea cannot be done without some impact on the environment but minimising and eliminating environmental risk is a key element of how the Royal Navy procures, maintains, operates and disposes of its vessels and equipment.

Our Policy

In our consideration of environmental protection we are guided by Secretary of State for Defence’s policy statement on Safety, Health, Environmental protection and Sustainable Development in the Ministry of Defence.

Secretary of state for Defence's Policy

As a result, the Royal Navy strives to meet all applicable environmental standards and even where warships and auxiliaries are specifically exempt from elements of environmental legislation we put in place measures, so far as is reasonably practicable, which produce outcomes at least as good as those required by law.  Legislation however, often evolves quicker than ships or equipment can be replaced or updated.  In these cases the Royal Navy seeks to minimise the risk or impact on the environment by introducing additional safeguards in the way ships are operated.