At the three-day NATO summit in Madrid, Prime Minister Justin Trinto and Canadian officials are expected to outline Canada’s effort to launch DIANA – the North Atlantic Defense Innovation Accelerator – as well as the Center for Excellence and Excellence. of NATO. The Canadian initiatives come as Sweden and Finland have reached an important agreement with Turkey that will allow the two historically neutral Nordic countries, which fear Russian aggression, to join NATO. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has opposed the swift acceptance for weeks, accusing them of backing Turkish militant groups, especially the PKK – the Kurdistan Workers’ Party – which Turkey considers, along with Canada, the United States and the European Union. terrorist group. On Tuesday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg largely dedicated the inaugural public forum of the summit to the threats of climate change. He announced a target of reducing emissions by 45 percent for NATO operations by 2030 and zero by 2050. “It will not 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 start day of the three-day summit. Toronto or Montreal seem to be the most likely places to be based. NATO announced the creation of DIANA in April, but gave little details about the effort, saying only that “Canada is actively considering hosting the North American 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 move by NATO, combining alliance defense and technology personnel with technology companies and science researchers. The center and its partners will have access to dozens of technological accelerators and test sites between NATO countries. Innovations that will make NATO forces more adaptable to climate change will be a DIANA project. For example, the alliance wants batteries that can operate effectively in very hot climates and uniforms that can keep soldiers comfortable in extreme temperatures. Artificial intelligence, big data processing, quantum technology technologies, biotechnology and new materials are other areas that DIANA will focus on. “Working with the private sector and academia, the Allies will ensure that we can leverage the best new technology for transatlantic security,” Stoltenberg said in April. DIANA will be backed by a new € 1 billion fund (equivalent to almost $ 1.4 billion), which NATO designates as the first multinational venture capital fund to push the alliance into the tech investment market. New technology companies will be eligible for $ 200,000 from the fund over a one-year period, said a Canadian defense official, who did not want to be named because he was not authorized 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 contributors. The reasons for his lack of registration were not announced on Tuesday. Canada has historically lagged behind in defense spending. NATO wants Member States to contribute the equivalent of 2 percent of GDP to defense. NATO estimates that Canada’s share this year will be only 1.27 percent. Neither Canadian officials in the NATO mission in Brussels nor the Canadian Defense Minister could comment on Tuesday. At a public forum on Tuesday, Stoltenberg acknowledged that climate change was one of the major threats facing the alliance. Climate change is a “crisis multiplier” that can cause conflict, he said. It wants NATO member states to reduce their troops’ carbon emissions by using renewable fuels instead of oil. launch an assessment of how climate change, such as rising water levels, could damage naval bases and other critical military sites; and enhance climate monitoring and monitoring systems to identify areas most at risk of extreme drought, forest fires and famine. Canada, through the Canadian Ministry of National Defense and Global Affairs, has been pushing for NATO to establish a Center for Excellence in Climate Change and Security for some time. NATO approved the idea, which Mr Trinto 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 disclosed. In a press release in May, Ottawa said the center “will be a platform through which both military and civilian people will develop, strengthen and share knowledge about the impact of climate change on security.” It will also allow participants to work together to build the skills and best practices needed to contribute to NATO’s goal of reducing the climate impact of our military activities. “ Mr Stoltenberg spoke of using fuels such as hydrogen to power military equipment. He said NATO could not lag behind other countries’ zero goals. “It would not be good for the military if we remained the only fossil fuel sector in the world,” he said. NATO has about 30 centers of excellence scattered throughout the Member States. Canada contributes half a dozen of them, including the Estonian cyber defense center, which provides support to 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 move that would support the relatively weak northeast side of the alliance, was not released late Tuesday, so it was not immediately clear what concessions, if any, two countries made to break the resistance of Turkey. “I am pleased to complete this stage on Finland’s path to NATO membership,” said a statement from the Finnish president’s office. “I look forward to fruitful talks now on Finland’s role in NATO with our future Allies here in Madrid.” The Morning and Afternoon Newsletters are compiled by Globe editors, giving you a brief overview of the day’s most important headlines. Register today.
