Naval Group celebrates World Environment Day

What does your position as Group Environment Expert involve?

Aurélie: “My role consists in working with Naval Group’s network of Environment Experts to coordinate the deployment of the environmental policy on the various sites. The aim is to reduce the environmental footprint of our activities, manage risks and improve our practices. This covers various subjects, including waste management, discharges into the air and water, energy sobriety and even mobility. As each site has its own specific characteristics, it is important to adapt the group’s environmental policy to realities on the ground.”

What are Naval Group’s key goals in terms of environmental performance?

Aurélie: “Naval Group is committed to a significant transformation of its sites in order to respond to future industrial challenges, while fully incorporating environmental performance into its projects. Our priorities include managing risk, conserving resources and reducing our carbon footprint.

The year 2026 marks a new stage with the strengthening of our carbon sobriety approach. This involves the ISO 50001 certification of our sites to improve energy performance, as well as the development of a decarbonisation plan by 2030 to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

We are also continuing our actions to reduce and recover waste, develop more responsible solutions, adapt to climate change and improve the environmental performance of our sites. Regular monitoring is carried out on several key indicators such as carbon emissions, energy consumption, business travel and the prevention of major accidents.

Finally, reducing domestic air travel is also an important issue and there is a strong willingness to prioritise train travel where possible.”

Which Naval Group environmental protection projects do you regard as most important?

Aurélie: “The environment depends on a combination of small and large virtuous actions, and concerns all employees. The aim is to integrate it into our everyday actions, technological choices, materials and professional commitments, an approach in which everyone has a role to play.

A number of initiatives have therefore been deployed, across all sites. In Brest, a pollution control robot, D-POL, has been tested on the Penfeld River and in basins on the operational site of Île Longue in order to strengthen intervention capacity in the event of pollution. Capable of collecting macro-waste, it is also designed to recover hydrocarbons from accidental spillage. Preventers were trained in March and are now ready to intervene if necessary. In addition, Brest is currently launching the last phase of work to connect to the urban heating network in order to decarbonise its heating and hot water needs.

In Lorient, a working group dedicated to “environmental culture” has been set up in order to integrate these issues into managerial practices and raise awareness among the teams. This now also involves partners. The site has also launched the planting of a mini-forest and experimented with systems for capturing waste in stormwater networks.

Several sites have also adopted the “Here begins the sea [Ici commence la mer]” awareness campaign, which reminds us that waste discarded in the street directly enters the waterways and then the sea. In Paris, this approach has taken concrete form with the installation of “Here begins the Seine” plaques.

In Ollioules, a “May by bike” challenge encouraged employees to promote soft mobility and its benefits for health and the environment.

In Nantes-Indret, an environmental community covering several themes (mobility, biodiversity, energy and communication) has been set up to structure internal actions. In particular, it has organised special days dedicated to the environment and sustainable development. Another joint achievement of the energy, environment and CSR teams is the “Let’s talk about the environment with our teams” guide, which helps teams easily identify concrete actions to take in the course of their activities. Also in Nantes-Indret, on the occasion of World Environment Day, Naval Reuse is being highlighted in June through several discussions and awareness-raising sessions led by the investment team. The aim is to promote reuse, highlight the concrete results of the scheme and mobilise teams around reducing waste and the carbon footprint.

In Toulon, several concrete initiatives illustrate the site’s commitment to the environment and the circular economy. In particular, the hull teams have developed a mobile device for stripping paint while the vessel is afloat with suction at source, making it possible to carry out repainting operations without discharging pollution into the natural environment. At the same time, the site remains committed to soft mobility with numerous actions in favour of cycling (parking, workshops, awareness-raising, fleet of service bikes, etc.), rewarded by the Gold Level Employer Pro-Bike label and reinforced by new initiatives such as the “I'm getting into cycling to work!” campaign. Finally, the Site Management Department has teamed up with FabBRICK to recycle more than 300 used work blues into more than 3,000 textile bricks, resulting in a work of wall art more than 15 metres in length installed in the function room. This project combines aesthetics, acoustic comfort and the circular economy, giving materials a second life while improving the quality of collective spaces.

These examples are just a few of the many initiatives being rolled out across all Naval Group sites.”