A quarter of the world's population lives within three miles (5 km) of an operation site. fossil fuel The projects potentially threaten the health of more than 2 billion people, as well as critical ecosystems, according to a first-of-its-kind study.
A horrifying new report from Amnesty International, shared exclusively with the Guardian, says more than 18,300 people oilgas and coal The sites are currently distributed across 170 countries, covering a huge area of the Earth's surface.
Proximity to wells, refineries, pipelines and other fossil fuel facilities. increases the risk of cancerrespiratory diseases, heart disease, premature birth and death, as well as posing serious threats to water supply and air quality and degrading land.
Nearly half a billion (463 million) people, including 124 million children, currently live within 0.6 miles (1 km) of fossil fuel sites, while about 3,500 more new sites are currently proposed or developed, which could force another 135 million people to endure smoke, flares and spills, according to Extinction of mining: why the fossil fuel life cycle threatens life, nature and human rights.
Most active projects have created pollution “hot spots,” turning nearby communities and critical ecosystems into so-called sacrifice zones—heavily polluted areas where low-income and marginalized groups bear a disproportionate burden of exposure to pollution and toxins.
The report details the devastating health impacts of mining, processing and transportation, and shows how leaks, flares and construction destroy irreplaceable natural ecosystems and undermine human rights – especially those living near oil, gas and coal infrastructure.
It comes as world leaders except the United States – history's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases – gather in Belem, Brazil, for the 30th annual climate talks amid growing frustration over the lack of progress in phasing out fossil fuels, which are leading to planetary collapse and human rights abuses.
“The fossil fuel industry and its government sponsors have argued for decades that human development requires fossil fuels. But we know that, under the guise of economic growth, they instead serve greed and profit without red lines, abuse rights with almost complete impunity and destroy the atmosphere, biosphere and oceans,” said Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
“COP30 leaders must keep people, not profit and power, at the center of the negotiations, committing to a full, rapid, fair and financed fossil fuel phase-out and a just transition to sustainable energy for all.”
Cop30 comes as the Philippines, Mexico and Jamaica experience superstorms intensified by warmer air and ocean temperatures, and states are under increasing pressure to take decisive action to regulate fossil fuel companies and halt production, subsidies, licensing and consumption to comply landmark decision of an international court.
Last week The Guardian reported like over 5,350 fossil fuel industries Over the past four years, lobbyists have been given access to UN climate talks, blocking climate action while their clients pumped out record amounts of oil and gas.
The quantitative analysis is based on a first-of-its-kind mapping study conducted by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder's Better Planet Laboratory (BPL), who compared data on known fossil fuel infrastructure locations with census data and datasets on critical ecosystems, greenhouse gas emissions, and indigenous lands.
A third of all oil, coal and gas operations in operation intersect with one or more critical ecosystems, such as wetlands, forests or river systems, that are rich in biodiversity and critical for carbon sequestration, or where environmental degradation or disaster could lead to ecosystem collapse, the researchers found.
The true global scale is likely higher due to gaps in documentation of fossil fuel projects and limited census data in different countries.
The report also includes testimony from indigenous land defenders in Canada and coastal communities in Senegal, as well as fishermen in Colombia and Brazil and Amazonian leaders in Ecuador fighting against gas flaring, obtained in partnership with the Smith Family Human Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School.
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The results reveal deep environmental injustice and racism against the oil, gas and coal industries.
Indigenous peoples, who make up 5% of the world's population, are disproportionately affected by life-shortening fossil fuel infrastructure, with one in six locations located in indigenous territories.
“We are tired of intergenerational battles… We will not physically survive. [this]. We were never the instigators, but we bore the brunt of all the violence,” said Wet'suwet'en land defender Tsake ze' Sleydo (Molly Wickham), describing the upcoming construction of new compressors for a fossil gas pipeline on First Nations lands in British Columbia, Canada.
“When we rise to defend Int [Wet’suwet’en territory]We are criminalized.”
The expansion of fossil fuel extraction has also been associated with land grabs, cultural plunder, fragmentation of communities and loss of livelihoods, as well as violence, online threats and lawsuits, both criminal and civil, against community leaders peacefully opposing pipelines, drilling projects and other infrastructure.
“We're not after money; we only want what's ours. We just want to fish in Guanabara Bay, that's our right. And they're taking away our rights,” said Bruno Alves de Vega, an urban artisanal fisherman from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
According to the study, fossil fuels affect all parts of the human body, creating particularly serious risks for children, the elderly and pregnant women, who risk harming the health of future generations. UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change which called for criminal penalties for those who spread misinformation about the climate crisis and a complete ban on lobbying and advertising in the fossil fuel industry.
“The climate crisis is a manifestation and catalyst of deep-rooted injustice,” added Amnesty’s Callamard. “The fossil fuel era must end now.”
