North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NATO’s role in energy security

NATO leaders recognize that the disruption of the flow of vital resources could affect Alliance security interests. They have declared their support for a coordinated, international effort to assess risks to energy infrastructure and to promote energy infrastructure security.

At the Bucharest Summit in April 2008, the Allies noted a report on “NATO’s Role in Energy Security,” which identifies guiding principles and outlines options and recommendations for further activities. They will review progress at their next summit in 2009.

The report identifies five key areas where NATO can provide added value:

  • information and intelligence fusion and sharing;
  • projecting stability;
  • advancing international and regional cooperation;
  • supporting consequence management;
  • and supporting the protection of critical infrastructure.

Consultations are ongoing as to the depth and range of NATO’s involvement in this issue. Meanwhile, a number of practical programmes both within the Alliance and with NATO’s Partner countries are ongoing, alongside workshops and research projects.

Work in practice

Official discussions on this topic take place in the North Atlantic Council, NATO’s top political decision-making body. Concrete initiatives are underway. NATO members have supported a number of workshops and forums addressing this topic. For instance, an Advanced Research Workshop was held in London, January 2004, to discuss potential emerging threats to energy security, and a forum on ‘Energy Security Technology’ took place in Prague, in February 2006.

Through Operation Active Endeavour, NATO maritime forces have been maintaining security for key resource routes in the Mediterranean. Allies also cooperate with Partner countries and relevant experts through the Partnership for Peace programme, NATO’s Science for Peace and Security Programme and other agreements.

Maritime operations support

Some 65 per cent of the oil and natural gas consumed in Western Europe passes through the Mediterranean each year, with major pipelines connecting Libya to Italy and Morocco to Spain.

NATO ships have been patrolling in the Eastern Mediterranean monitoring shipping to detect and deter terrorist activity as part of Operation Active Endeavour since October 2001. The operation has since been extended to cover the Straits of Gibraltar and the entire Mediterranean, providing escorts to non-military shipping and conducting compliant boarding of suspicious vessels.

NATO ships also systematically carry out preparatory route surveys in “choke” points (formed by narrow waterways and straits) as well as important passages and harbours throughout the Mediterranean.

Research and workshops

The Advanced Research Workshop on threats to energy security in London, 2004, was supported by the Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme, managed by NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division. The workshop brought together numerous policy-makers and advisors. It sought to assess energy security related threats and to discuss potential international security strategies.

The Prague workshop in 2006 was equally supported by the SPS Programme, which offers grants to encourage collaboration among scientists from NATO, Partner and Mediterranean Dialogue countries. The forum’s participants (representing governments, industries and the security and defence community) debated a range of crucial issues relating to energy security and possible roles for the Alliance.

Through the then Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society (now amalgamated with former Science Committee into the new  Committee on Science for Peace and Security) a pilot study examined the safety and security of specific maritime assets and strategic ‘choke’ points, in case of possible terrorist attacks. The study provided practical recommendations on how to prevent and effectively respond to such attacks.

Cooperation with Partner Countries

Due to overlapping security concerns, cooperative activities with Partner countries often impact on energy security issues. Activities under the Partnership for Peace and the Science for Peace and Security Programme are the main cooperative frameworks, although bilateral arrangements also exist. Areas such as defence reform, critical infrastructure protection, counter-terrorism cooperation and environmental protection may all impact on resource security.

History

The North Atlantic Council adopted NATO’s latest Strategic Concept in Washington D.C. in April 1999. The document outlines the Allies’ perception of the international security environment and states that the disruption of vital resources could impact on Alliance security interests.

In the last few years, international trends and a number of international disputes have further contributed to Alliance concerns over resource security. This was reaffirmed by the Allies in the Riga Summit Declaration and in the Comprehensive Political Guidance document endorsed by NATO Heads of State and Government at the Summit.

For the Allies during the Cold War, energy security meant ensuring the supply of fuel to Alliance forces. To this end, the NATO Pipeline System was set up. It consisted of ten separate and distinct military storage and distribution systems across Europe. However, in light of shifting global political and strategic realities, the concept is changing and discussions are ongoing to clarify NATO’s role in this area.