Montreal Climate Security Summit Series, Part 3: Ukraine, Energy, and Readiness in Modern Warfare

As Russia intensifies attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure this week, the links between defence planning, energy vulnerability, and resilience in Europe are once again front of mind.In this very timely release, the CDA Institute’s Climate Security Programme is sharing the third and final episode of its Special Expert Series highlighting key insights from the 4th Montreal Climate Security Summit, co-hosted with @NATO CCASCOE. In this episode, Programme Director @Pauline Baudu is joined by Lennard de Klerk, lead author of The Climate Damage Caused by Russia’s War in Ukraine, produced by the Initiative on GHG Accounting of War, to examine how energy vulnerability and the environmental footprint of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are reshaping defence planning, military readiness, and European security, and what Canada and its Allies can learn to increase their own resilience.    We explore:  - Why Russia’s invasion is a 'fossil-fuel war', how energy dependence creates strategic vulnerability, and why reducing reliance on fossil fuels is now central to European resilience and autonomy- How energy infrastructure has emerged as both a primary target and a critical weakness in the Ukraine conflict, particularly for energy-dependent military operations- What lessons Canada can draw from Ukraine as it modernizes its forces and strengthens the protection of domestic energy infrastructure against hybrid threats- How the 1.5% of new NATO defence investments allocated to critical infrastructure can be leveraged to reduce military emissions, strengthen capability, and enhance long-term resilience This episode was recorded in December 2025.The CDA Institute is a non-partisan think tank that conducts research and education programming on defence and security.Learn more: CDA Institute