Greenhouse gas emissions from offshore oil and gas activities - Relevance of the Paris Agreement, Law of the Sea, and Regional Seas Programmes

Parties to the Paris Agreement have a binding obligation to collectively limit global temperature rises to an agreed upon target. Commitments include providing national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory reports to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ('UNFCCC') secretariat, reporting their contributions towards the collective target. GHG emissions from upstream oil and gas (O&G) facilities, including those in offshore areas under coastal State jurisdiction (where current activity is occurring in over 50 countries), are to be included within the scope of these reports. Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ('UNCLOS') are obligated to adopt and enforce laws and regulations to prevent, reduce, and control pollution arising from seabed exploration and exploitation activities under their jurisdiction. These are to be no less effective than international rules and standards as established through competent international organisations. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), via the Regional Seas Programmes (RSP), are two such organisations that develop international rules and standards covering certain aspects of offshore O&G activities. IMO treaties, rules, and standards cover GHG emissions arising from vessel-related offshore O&G activities, but emissions from O&G industry-specific activities, such as the venting and flaring of reservoir hydrocarbons, are excluded. The only other source of international law, implementing UNCLOS' requirement, providing international rules and standards for coastal States to benchmark their laws against for the prevention of marine pollution in the form of GHG emissions from offshore O&G activities are the regional instruments of the RSP. However, as this article will show, current RSP coverage is minimal and insufficient, particularly in light of Parties' Paris Agreement and UNCLOS obligations. Examples are provided showing inconsistencies in the reporting of offshore O&G GHG emissions across national inventory reports, as well as examples of applicable requirements prescribed under various RSP instruments, or lack thereof, highlighting the deficiency of a relevant international pollution prevention rule and/or standard across all marine regions.