Invited written submission to the Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Detailed scrutiny of the Petroleum and Other Minerals (Amendment) (Climate Emergency Measures) Bill 2018

Anthropogenic climate change is the most pressing challenge our world faces, necessitating urgent action. As fossil fuel exploitation is inseparable from the increasing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is an integral component of climate change mitigation. Creating a sustainable, healthy world for current and future generations entails a fundamental transformation of how societies use energy, moving from our dependency on fossil fuels to clean renewable energy, in tandem with reduced consumption and measures to aid energy efficiency.

To offer a deeper analysis of connections between hydrocarbon management and climate change, this submission comprises four distinct sections. Section 1 details the broader context in which to understand climate change and decisions about gas and oil exploitation; section 2 gives an overview of the evolution of the Irish approach to indigenous gas and oil and concludes with a summary of changes inIreland’s licensing regime. In doing so, this section presents key information necessary for a discussion of interconnected issues that make further exploitation of Irish hydrocarbons untenable. Section 3 outlines the main environmental, social, economic, political and ideological issues surrounding Irish hydrocarbon management. The final section summarises the interconnected nature of issues surrounding hydrocarbon exploitation, consumption and climate change.