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One-fourth of the world's residents resides inside three miles of operational fossil fuel projects, possibly endangering the physical condition of exceeding 2bn individuals as well as critical natural habitats, per pioneering study.

Worldwide Presence of Fossil Fuel Infrastructure

More than eighteen thousand three hundred petroleum, natural gas, and coal mining sites are presently spread in 170 countries worldwide, taking up a vast expanse of the Earth's surface.

Proximity to extraction sites, refineries, pipelines, and further oil and gas operations elevates the risk of malignancies, breathing ailments, cardiac problems, early delivery, and mortality, while also causing serious threats to water supplies and atmospheric purity, and degrading land.

Immediate Vicinity Dangers and Future Growth

Almost half a billion individuals, including 124 million children, currently reside within 1km of fossil fuel locations, while an additional three thousand five hundred or so new sites are now planned or being built that could force 135 million additional individuals to endure pollutants, flares, and accidents.

Nearly all active operations have formed pollution concentrated areas, transforming adjacent populations and vital environments into so-called sacrifice zones – severely polluted zones where poor and vulnerable communities carry the unfair load of exposure to contaminants.

Physical and Natural Effects

The report details the devastating physical impact from extraction, processing, and shipping, as well as demonstrating how spills, ignitions, and development destroy priceless ecological systems and undermine human rights – especially of those dwelling near petroleum, natural gas, and coal operations.

It comes as world leaders, excluding the United States – the largest past producer of climate pollutants – meet in Belém, Brazil, for the 30th global climate conference amid increasing concern at the limited movement in phasing out coal, oil, and gas, which are leading to global ecological crisis and rights abuses.

"Oil and gas companies and their state sponsors have claimed for a long time that economic growth needs coal, oil, and gas. But we know that in the name of economic growth, they have rather promoted profit and profits without limits, violated rights with widespread exemption, and damaged the atmosphere, biosphere, and seas."

Global Discussions and Worldwide Pressure

Cop30 takes place as the Philippines, the North American country, and the Caribbean island are suffering from superstorms that were strengthened by warmer air and ocean temperatures, with countries under growing demand to take strong action to oversee fossil fuel corporations and end drilling, government funding, licenses, and consumption in order to comply with a historic decision by the world court.

Last week, reports revealed how over over 5.3k fossil fuel industry influence peddlers have been allowed access to the UN environmental negotiations in the past four years, hindering emission reductions while their employers extract unprecedented quantities of petroleum and natural gas.

Study Process and Results

The quantitative study is based on a innovative mapping exercise by researchers who cross-referenced information on the documented positions of fossil fuel facilities locations with population data, and records on critical environments, carbon outputs, and native communities' territories.

A third of all active petroleum, coal, and gas sites overlap with one or more critical environments such as a marsh, forest, or waterway that is abundant in biodiversity and critical for carbon sequestration or where natural deterioration or disaster could lead to habitat destruction.

The real global scale is probably higher due to gaps in the documentation of oil and gas projects and incomplete census data throughout nations.

Natural Inequality and Indigenous Populations

The results show long-standing ecological injustice and racism in proximity to oil, gas, and coal operations.

Indigenous peoples, who account for 5% of the world's residents, are unfairly exposed to life-shortening oil and gas infrastructure, with one in six locations located on tribal areas.

"We're experiencing multi-generational battle fatigue … We physically cannot endure [this]. We are not the starters but we have endured the force of all the violence."

The spread of coal, oil, and gas has also been associated with land grabs, heritage destruction, social fragmentation, and loss of livelihoods, as well as aggression, digital harassment, and lawsuits, both criminal and legal, against community leaders peacefully challenging the construction of conduits, drilling projects, and additional operations.

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