UN Environmental Programme
Topic: B
Hydraulic Fracturing
UNEP Topic B
Submitted By: Madagascar
The process of hydraulic fracturing is the process of pumping chemicals, such as a mixture
of sand, water, and other chemicals, into rock or earth to extract natural fossil fuels. The mixture
is pumped into rock, which causes it to crack and release onto the surface. Hydraulic fracturing,
better known as fracking, is a worldwide resource for fuel. In Canada, they receive 61.1% of the
money made by fracking (thetyee.ca). In the United States, fracking has boosted the
accessibility to energy and created 400 thousand jobs (fool.com). So as Madagascar, we believe
that fracking benefits our economy.
In 1909, the first explorers found their first and last source of light crude, a form of oil, in
Madagascar. As of 2013, there are at least 17 oil companies active in Madagascar in search of
oil. These include Exxon Mobile Corp, and Total SA. Another company, Tullow based in
London, spent $30 million on surveying Madagascar's remote area since 2006, when they first
began their work in Madagascar (tullowoil.com). Another company called Madagascar Oil is
close in terms with the government in Madagascar. They focus on heave and conventional oil
along with gas deposits. Madagascar Oil has five on-shore rigs, or blocks, in Madagascar
currently. They are granted exploration and development rights for oil. Madagascar Oil’s main
sites are in Tsimiroro and Bemolanga. This is where, in the past five years, have been multi
billion barrels of oil have been found. In Tsimiroro, recent field studies show that the heavy oil
found here has a very high economic development potential. Again, Madagascar Oil is in close
proximities with the government of Madagascar to ensure and achieve the development of
commercial and economically safe oil production. Madagascar oil also provides funding for
community projects around and at their site of operation (madagascaroil.com). And because of
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the immense amount of fracking in Madagascar and mining, the Malagasy economy has risen by
3% this year (cnbcafrica.com).
Because fracking benefits our economy, we believe it could benefit other economies. We
know some nations are against fracking for geologic reasons, but all asides, the help it does to
the economy, should be enough? Maybe if we could show other nations the good it did to our
economy, we could get fracking into them and their economy.
Bibliography
“Focused on the Development of Heavy Oil and Conventional Oil & Gas”. Madagascar Oil.
Madagascar Oil. 2013. Web. November 23, 2014.
“Madagascar”. Tullow Oil. Tullow Oil plc. 2014. Web. November 20, 2014.
Matsilele, Trust. “Madagascar’s Economic Growth Forecast 3% in 2014”. CNBS Africa. ABN
Digital Pty. Ltd. July 1, 2014. Web. December 11, 2014.
Nikiforuk, Andrew. “How Much Does Western Canada Subsidize Fracking”. The Tyee.
Gossamer Threads. December 11, 2014.
Sreekumar, Arjun. “How Fracking Has Helped the U.S. Economy”. The Motley Fool. The
Motley Fool. March 30, 2014. Web. December 11, 2014.
UNEP Topic B
Submitted by: Australia
What is hydraulic fracturing? Hydraulic fracturing, also known as
fracking, is the pumping of water, sand, and chemicals into the ground
at high pressure to take shale gas from shale rock. In Australia the
debate on whether to use hydraulic fracking is still growing. Using
hydraulic fracking is good because Australia is in a key place where lots
of shale rock is, which could lead to high amounts of oil and gas. But I
believe that bad parts of hydraulic fracking outnumber the good parts. I
believe that Australia should not use hydraulic fracking because it could
contaminate the water supply. I also believe that Australia should not
use hydraulic fracking because it is known for its liquefied natural gas. It
is my opinion that fracking is not a good fit for Australia.
Australia is surrounded by salt water. It depends on clean,
uncontaminated water to survive. By using hydraulic fracking there is a
risk of contaminating the clean water that is used for the whole
population. Naomi Hogan, manager of the Wilderness Society, says,
“Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth, and water is a
huge issue for us here.” She is worried about “any industry that puts
the risk and is a pollution threat across large tracts of land.” With
hydraulic fracking possibly contaminating the water supply in Australia,
this could endanger many wild life inhabitants. Wild life specialists in
Australia say that not only is the water supply important for the human
race, but also for the wild life. In the Kimberley region of Western
Australia State, there are protests that have been taking place to say no
to fracking. The organization is called, “No Fracking Way.”
Spokesperson Jo Franklin said, “We knocked on every door in Central
Greenough to ask the residents if they would like to declare their road
Gasfield free. The result was an overwhelming yes with more than 96
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percent of people saying they supported the concept of becoming a
Gasfield Free Community.” Over 200 partners and organizations have
been working hard to have a ban on fracking once and for all.
Australia is known for its natural gas. Since the idea of hydraulic
fracking became more popular, the natural gas industries in Australia
have been working hard to protect its profits and drown out the world’s
demand for clean, renewable fuels. In 2000 Australia was seven percent
of the world’s natural gas contributors. Now that hydraulic fracking has
come into play, they estimate that in 2018 Australia will be 25 percent
of the world’s natural gas contributors.
Hydraulic fracking has occurred for decades in Australia, but on a
very low scale. In the United States there have been about 1.5 million
hydraulic fracking jobs. But in Australia, only 2,500 have taken place.
Also, drilling into the earth is more expensive in Australia than in the
United States. Australia is a relatively high-cost country; this is also due
to isolation. Because of this, drilling in Australia is more expensive than
it is in the United States. With these factors, places in Australia have
taken a stand on hydraulic fracking. In Victoria State, which includes
Melbourne, a ban was put on hydraulic fracking in 2012 that is still
going on. That is not the only region in Australia that has taken into
consideration the effects hydraulic fracking will have on the country.
To conclude, I stand by Australia and say “No Fracking Way.” The
effects hydraulic fracking could have on Australia are just too risky to
take. The water supply in Australia is in very high demand and the risks
are too great if it became contaminated. Also, the direction that
Australia is heading towards with natural gas extraction is looking very
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good for our country. Although the United States have found hydraulic
fracking to be good, Australia should not!
Sources:
Galbraith, Kate. "Australia Divided on Fracking." The New York Times.
The New York Times, 22 Jan. 2014. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/23/business/energyenvironment/australia-divided-on-fracking.html?>
Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency, n.d. Web.
24 Nov. 2014. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/as.html>
"Fracking - the Pros and Cons." Elsevier Home. N.p., n.d. Web.
22 Nov. 2014. <http://www.elsevier.com/connect/fracking-the-prosand-cons>.
UNEP Topic B
Submitted By: Bulgaria
School: Monticello Middle School
Let’s go swimming, but wait! The male fish we saw just yesterday, is now feminine! It sounds
humorous, feminization of fish, is caused by Hydraulic Fracturing. Air we can’t even breathe; depletion
of the ozone layer - Hydraulic Fracturing was here. Hydraulic Fracturing is causing a wave of trouble in
our country and around the globe. We have contributed to these issues, using fracturing for natural gas.
In January 2013, we decided to eliminate and ban hydraulic fracturing, because of the environmental
problems it creates. “Chevron Corporation was outraged at the decision to eliminate fracturing. In light
of Chevron’s recent plan to explore possibilities of fracking in the Bulgarian Balkans to extract 300 billion
to 1 trillion cubic meters of shale gas estimated to be locked under the mountain range.” (Bulgaria
Officially Bans Hydraulic Fracturing for Natural Gas) We believe that hydraulic fracturing should be
better managed. According to Ambassador Warlick “Bulgaria needs to find the right way to regulate
shale gas development instead of banning it, (giving the example that while there may be a risk in
operating nuclear power plants (NPPs)). Hydralic fracturing should be regulated to provide a template
for how the shale natural gas issue should be handled.” (Daly, John C.K.)
Hydraulic fracturing has not caused major damage to our country’s environment. “We import
43.79 percent of energy needs and have decided to give the controversial “fracking” procedure a pass.
Bulgarska Telegrafna Agentsiia news agency reported that after a fractious debate lasting more than
four hours, 166 members of the National Assembly 240 parliamentarians voted to impose an indefinite
ban on shale gas exploration and extraction in our country using hydraulic fracturing or other similar
technology.” (Daly,John C.K) Any company choosing to break the ban we have, “placed a $65 million fine
for any company found to break the ban” (Bulgaria Officially Bans Hydraulic Fracturing for Natural Gas)
The issue of hydraulic fracturing is an enormous issue when it comes to the environments and in some
cases financially.
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To conclude, we view our country's environment highly. We do not wish to have pollutants
destroying our air. Bulgarian politicians held the best interests of their citizens, thus the banning of
hydraulic fracturing is our entire standpoint on the issue.
Works Cited
"Bulgaria: All Fracked Up." What's behind the Hydraulic Fracturing Ban in Bulgaria. N.p., 16 Apr. 2012.
Web. 03 Dec. 2014.
"Bulgaria Officially Bans Hydraulic Fracturing for Natural Gas." Inhabitat Sustainable Design Innovation
Eco Architecture Green Building Bulgaria Officially Bans Hydraulic Fracturing for Natural Gas Comments.
N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2014.
Daly, John C.K. "Bulgarian Assembly Votes to Ban Hydraulic Fracturing - For Now." Bulgarian Assembly
Votes to Ban Hydraulic Fracturing - For Now. N.p., 20 Jan. 2012. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.
"Romania: A Small Village’s Anti-fracking Protest Spreads to the Capital." RSS. N.p., n.d. Web.
UNEP Topic B
China
China doesn't really care that hydraulic fracturing or fracking is hurting the environment.
It can't be that bad! They aren't really willing to cut back or stop. It is making them money! They
have an abundance of fossil fuels (mainly shale gas) underground. People don't want that to go to
waste do they? China is trying to lower the cost of getting it out. They are not about to spend
even more money to help the environment. It's all about cost. It is also providing jobs for people.
Do people want to stop using fossil fuels? This is nearly impossible. People were even using
them in ancient China. This is really the only good way to get the fossil fuels out of the ground.
Fracking is a great discovery. If some people don't think China should be doing it, then why was
the discovery announced? It was meant to be used. China is using it.
I think there are a couple ways to solve this is. First, we could try using water instead of
toxic chemicals to get the fossil fuels out. This might not be possible, but if we sprayed it at high
pressure, it might work. The other ways might be expensive. We could get the toxic chemicals
out of the ground by spraying a bit of water into the ground, and then using a really strong
vacuum like device, we could suck it out of the ground and repeat a couple of times. We could
also make mine like areas. We don't want the gasses to escape, but we might be able to surround
the gas with a non absorbent stone. Then the ground wouldn't absorb the toxic substances. Then
the water-and-suck device could make sure it is cleaned out. China is all about cost. It could be
rejected if it is expensive. If people heard about it, they might donate money. Some organizations
can be set up to raise money for this. Just a few of those devices could change everything.
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Germany
There is a lot of controversy in today’s world about hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing is a
technique designed to recover gas and oil from shale rock. In order to harness the gas and oil from the
shale rock, they pump water mixed with sand and other chemicals into a well, which leads to the rock
being at a very high pressure. The pressure of the water is so high that the rock breaks open which
allows the gas to come out. After the gas escapes, it moves back up the well where workers can get it. It
is great that we found a way to get gas from shale rocks, but hydraulic fracturing has a lot of negative
impacts on the environment. People are concerned that the chemicals they use to get the gas out can
escape and contaminate the ground water. The process of fracturing can also cause small earthquakes
in the area because of all the pressure being pushed into the ground to break the rock. An area called
Blackpool experienced two minor earthquakes in 2011 as a result of fracturing. There is a lot of
controversy around using hydraulic fracturing because of all of its negative impacts on the environment.
Now Germany is showing its opinion about what they think about doing hydraulic fracturing.
“In general, fracking with environmentally toxic substances is prohibited,” said Barbara
Hendricks, German Environmental Minister (2014). From 1975 to 1985, hydraulic fracturing became
very popular in Germany. There was more hydraulic fracturing going on in Germany at that time then in
any other European country. In February 2013, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the decision that
would allow the exploitation of shale gas using the process of hydraulic fracturing. Immediately after
this decision was announced, many people stated their oppositions. One month later the original plan
that allowed fracking was overturned and fracking was then banned from the country of Germany. In
November 2014, German magazine Der Spiegel reported that the German government was considering
lessening the ban on fracturing. The report said that the government was planning to allow fracturing
above 3,000 meters. Hendricks quickly dismissed the report saying that fracturing above 3,000 meters
will not be allowed. Hendricks pushed for an unlimited ban on fracking, allowing it to only be permitted
under very rare exceptions. At the time, she did say, “if, at an unforeseeable time, it can be scientifically
proven that fracking is completely harmless, then it may no longer be permanently forbidden.” Because
of the negative impact fracking has on the environment, Germany has decided to take action and ban
hydraulic fracturing until it is scientifically proven that fracking will no longer harm the environment.
Bibliography
“What is fracking and why is it controversial?” www.bbc.com. BBC News UK, N.d.
Web. 19 Dec. 2014.
“German government upholds fracking ban” www.eoractiv.com EurActive, N.d.
Web. 19 Dec. 2014.
“Hydraulic fracturing by country” wikipedia.org Wikipedia N.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2014
UNEP Topic B
Submitted by: India
School: University School
Hydraulic Fracturing is a key topic in the media today. There are many pros and cons to this topic
throughout the world. A pro would be that it is bringing the worldwide gas prices down. A con would be
that with the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, it can contaminate the public-water supply of cities.
Many countries support hydraulic fracturing, such as the United Kingdom, the United States of America,
and South Africa. Also, many countries have banned the practice of hydraulic fracturing, such as France
and Bulgaria. Hydraulic fracturing is a way that we can get more natural gas, even though natural gas is
still a non-renewable resource. India’s views on hydraulic fracturing are that it could help our economy,
but it isn’t environmentally good for the environment.
We believe that hydraulic fracturing will help us because we rely too much on other countries and
their resources to fuel our country. We need to become independent in our fuel needs, but not ruin India’s
and the world’s environment while doing it. India’s pollution problems are very bad and we don’t want to
make them any worse with hydraulic fracturing chemicals. We have cities and areas in India that are
totally ran by green, renewable energy. India would like to make their whole country ran by green energy,
but that will take many years or even decades. Therefore we need any energy that makes us independent
from neighboring countries in the southern part of Asia. If hydraulic fracturing can do this to India, we
will support it. We believe that hydraulic fracturing should be allowed if it is regulated and controlled.
In order for India to achieve independence from other countries by using hydraulic fracturing. We
would need to start fracturing the natural gas reserves in India with regulations to how much we drill for
in each reserve. India would also need to keep up the good work with their green energy, so when the
time comes India will be totally independent from other countries with green energy. Another goal that
India needs is to be able to have natural gas because they need another source of fuel besides oil. They
need something else so that their gas prices will lower and will not depend on other countries for how the
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feel their gas prices to be. All in all hydraulic fracturing is a necessity in India, but it needs to be regulated
until India can be dependent on a renewable, green resource.
-
Work Cited
Kaushik, Preetam. "Fracking Could Trigger Windfall For India, But What’s The Trade-off?" Business
Insider. N.p., 10 June 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
Mosbergen, Dominique. "India's Smog Destroyed Enough Crops In A Year To Feed 94 Million People:
Study." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 06 Sept. 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
"What Goes In & Out of Hydraulic Fracking." Dangers of Fracking. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
UNEP Topic B
Submitted by: Islamic Republic of Iran
School: Monticello Middle School
There is, always has been, and always will be a demand for fuel. One of those ready-made natural
fuels is oil. It's accessible, and an easy and popular fuel to use.1 One way to get that oil is the common
method of oil pumping. Pumping is a simple method where oil is pumped out of the ground--much like
hydraulic fracturing-- using oil rigs. To pump oil, pumps are installed and oil is manually pumped out of
the ground, using the aforementioned oil rigs. While the pump pulls oil out of the ground, most of the
pressure comes from the pressure of the oil itself; it's much like sucking on a juice box's straw and
allowing juice to come up. The juice-- or oil-- would not flow up itself but it is pumped up, while most of
the pressure still comes from the liquid. This method of getting oil is very popular and can be more cost
efficient than hydraulic fracturing, another method of gathering oil, if there is a lot of oil, and the money
from sales will exceed the cost of pumping. When I was born in 2003, the price of oil was generally
under $25 per barrel.2 It began rising to $40 and $50 during 2004 and then kept rising; in October of
2014, according to http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_oil_market_chronology_from_2003, it was
around $80 per barrel, calming down after a huge price increase in 2008.
In certain countries, the process of hydraulic fracking has been started due to these higher oil prices,
which can lower country oil prices and is economically helpful. However, there are very serious
environmental, as well as economical, problems caused by fracking. With the fracturing process, a
mixture of chemicals are pumped into the ground to retrieve oil, in including the poisonous brine water,
which can really do harm to the environment. It can also cause earthquakes, which can severely damage
the environment.
1
http://www.window.state.tx.us/specialrpt/energy/exec/fuel.html
2
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_oil_market_chronology_from_2003
UNEP Topic B
Iran is one of the major world producers of oil.3 We used to pump and export usually 2 to 2.5 million
barrels of oil a day.4 Because of our abundance of oil, and because the price of oil is high we do not have
a need to use hydraulic fracturing to access oil. Producing and exporting oil made up the funding for
almost 50% of Iran's government spending.5 The economy is reliant on oil, says the website cia.gov. The
Iranian government is indeed just that. Iran produces about 3,203,000 barrels of oil a month, as of August
2014.6 But other countries have started producing oil for themselves through fracking, as well. The United
States of America is one big country who used to buy oil from Iran but is now fracking and producing oil,
rather than put money into the global economy; their economy generally prefers to frack oil for their own
use.7 This can help their economy but also harm others, such as Iran's, which relies so heavily on oil.
Therefore, Iran's economy is rapidly worsening because of the lack of funds from oil exports to multiple
large countries.
While we are supportive of other countries' economies and realize that fracking may be better for
them, we also must remember how bad this is for the environment and also how devastating it is for the
economies of many countries which rely on oil. We therefore propose an economical and environmental
United Nations summit to discuss the effects of hydraulic fracturing. As of now, we are only hearing part
of the stories from each side of the spectrum: from the pumping side and fracking side. It's not a matter of
whether fracking is "good" or "bad"; it is a matter of the environmental and economical difficulty, as well
as simple miscommunication. We are not solving the environmental problem at all, and we are not really
solving the economical difficulties either; a big part of that is the lack of opportunity to discuss these
3
Encyclopedia Americana, Grolier Online, Iran, 2014
4
Bloomberg Businessweek, There Would Be no Iranian Nuclear Talks if not for Fracking, by Matthew Philips, November 8, 2013
5
Bloomberg Businessweek, There Would Be no Iranian Nuclear Talks if not for Fracking, by Matthew Philips, November 8, 2013
6
www.tradingeconomics.com/iran/crude-oil-production
77 Hydrofracking: The Process That Has Changed America's Energy Needs, by Ann O. Squire, published 2003
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things with everybody present. It may seem as if we're just talking, but really, a conference can really
make a huge difference. On that note, we would like to introduce a full UN summit to discuss with all
sides, all of the effects of fracking. There has never been an oil summit and we predict that it would be
extremely helpful. One example of a successful summit is the Kyoto summit, the goal of which was to
stop greenhouse gases and other ozone layer- blocking gases from reaching a "level that would prevent
dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system".8 This summit was very helpful and is an
example of how conferences could be helpful for any topics; therefore, we propose an oil summit to help
get all sides of the oil story, and to help reduce the environmental and economical difficulties related to
all things oil related.
Works Cited
http://www.window.state.tx.us/specialrpt/energy/exec/fuel.html
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_oil_market_chronology_from_2003
Encyclopedia Americana, Grolier Online, "Iran", 2014
Bloomberg Businessweek, There Would Be no Iranian Nuclear Talks if not for Fracking, by Matthew
Philips, November 8, 2013
www.tradingeconomics.com/iran/crude-oil-production
"Hydrofracking: The Process That Has Changed America's Energy Needs", by Ann O. Squire,
published 2003 by Scholastic Inc.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Protocol
8
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Protocol
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Submitted by:
Islamic Republic of Pakistan
The world is undergoing a huge change, a change in temperature. Global warming is
raising temperatures all of the world, but Pakistan is not only being affected by the temperature,
the melting of glaciers in the Himalayas, is threatening the flow rate of many of the most
important rivers in Pakistan. By the year 2035, Pakistan’s famous glaciers will have disappeared
due to rising temperatures around the world. (Ibtimes.com) But not only Pakistan is being
effected by climate change, countries all over the world are being effected. Such as China,
rising sea levels could put some of their biggest cities at risk. China is not the only countries
being effected like this, islands such as Tuvalu, and Hawaii are at high risk for rising sea levels,
also New York City and other cities in the U.S.A are also at risk for flooding. Global warming is a
very large problem in the world. Global warming is primarily caused by carbon pollution. Carbon
pollution can a occur when a factory burns fossil fuels and releases carbon dioxide (CO2) into
the air. The carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere and then acts like a blanket,
trapping heat inside and warming the planet.
The solution for this problem is very obvious. We need to use green energy, we need to
make smarter cars, we need to stop polluting the air, these ideas have already been discovered,
but we not using these ideas. In past years, the UN put in place the Kyoto Protocol, an
international agreement linked to the United Nations framework convention on climate
change. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered
into force on 16 February 2005. There are currently 192 Parties to the Protocol. The Kyoto
Protocol implemented the objective of the UNFCCC to fight global warming by reducing
greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere to 'a level that would prevent dangerous
anthropogenic interference with the climate system. (Unfccc.int)
The UN is already working on limiting green house gases but carbon dioxide is still getting
into our atmosphere so we need to work towards making solar and wind energy our primary
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source of energy so we don't have to worry about green house gases. We propose that the U.N
invests in solar and wind energy, and to help countries stop using fossil fuels, and to help create
new technology to limit the carbon dioxide in the air. This needs to be done today not tomorrow,
because everyday that goes by and we don't do a thing, the earth gets warmer.
Bibliography
Kyoto Protocol. 2014. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
2014.12/8/14.http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php
Pakistan facing climate change risks. The nation, 11/11/13.12/8/14.
http://nation.com.pk/islamabad/11-Nov-2013/pakistan-facing-climate-change-risks
Ghosh Palash. Pakistanis glaciers. International business times, 11/07/13,
12/8/14. http://m.ibtimes.com/another-victim-global-warming-pakistans-glaciers-will-completelymelt-away-2035-1458936
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