Role of the Oil and Gas Industry and the Legal Challenges in Achieving Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

Sustainable development is a multidimensional concept and one of the most discussed topics. Sustainable development goals (SDGs) were adopted by the United Nations to address the pressing political, economic, and environmental issues that our planet is currently dealing with by replacing the Millennium Development Goals which were launched in 2000 to combat the disgrace of poverty. This study is focused on analyzing the SDGs and to find the relation between the energy source and achievement of SDGs. Although the use of clean energy is one of the goals, future energy mix is highly dependent on the fossil fuel, more specifically on oil and gas. Use of oil and gas as well as their exploration and production causes serious environmental problems. The main argument of this study is that there exists some legal paradox to attain the SDGs. The study finds that the international laws are not good enough to solve the problem. The causes of failure of such laws are also discussed in this paper.

Rajshahi Uni. Law Rev.Vol. XIII, 2024; p61-82