Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 9 October 2019
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action
Hydraulic Fracturing Exploration: Discussion
Professor Barry McMullin:
It is a complicated question. Under the existing United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC, and the Paris Agreement, nations are only responsible for emissions within their own territories. The upstream emissions I mentioned arising from our use of fracked gas would primarily fall under the territory of the United States. We currently delegate responsibility for those emissions to the US. However, if it withdraws from the Paris Agreement, all bets are off and we will have to look at our own responsibility much more closely.