Debate contribution: Ban Petroleum Licensing and Fracking
Debate contribution by Miss Nicola Brogan on .
- MLA
- Miss Nicola Brogan
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 29 April 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Ban Petroleum Licensing and Fracking
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4486623
Read the official Assembly record
Text
As Sinn Féin spokesperson on climate and the environment, I am pleased to join my Sinn Féin colleagues in bringing the motion to the Floor calling for petroleum licensing and fracking to be banned in the North. I thank the Economy Minister for being here; for participating in the debate; for listening to the widespread concerns about the environmental and public health risks associated with these practices; and ultimately for taking action on the matter. We need to see legislative change to ban petroleum licensing and fracking here, which have the potential to cause so much damage to our environment and stress to our local communities. The Hatch report sets out in great detail the environmental risks that we run in the North even with low-level development of petroleum exploration and extraction. The Climate Change Act 2022 commits us to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, a target that we are already hard-pressed to meet. It is entirely contradictory to set that target while allowing space for the development of a future fossil fuel industry here with the production of petroleum via fracking. We need to focus on the development of solar, onshore and offshore wind and hydroelectric energy production to meet our obligations. We also need to comply with the 30 by 30 commitment made by the former AERA Minister, which aims to set aside 30% of the land and sea as protected areas for nature restoration by 2030 in order to stall biodiversity loss and create new habitats for wildlife. New policies in agriculture are helping to reach that target, but there continues to be a decline in biodiversity, as shown in the 2023 'State of Nature' report. The answer to the biodiversity crisis is conservation work, not the increased exploitation and destruction of habitats. In recent weeks, the Assembly has highlighted the issue of water pollution in the North. The scenes at Lough Neagh last year brought into focus the significant issues of water pollution that the practice of petroleum extraction, especially fracking, would compound. Fracking uses a large amount of water and opens up the possibility of water contamination, so we need to do what we can to prevent that type of water pollution. The motion is another step in the response to the climate crisis. It is our duty to ensure that our corner of the world carries its weight in the global crisis. I encourage all Members to support the motion.
410 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.03 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.95).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.95 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.72 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.21 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.03 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.03 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.01 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:20 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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