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25% of the global people resides inside five kilometers of functioning oil, gas, and coal projects, possibly risking the physical condition of more than 2bn people as well as essential natural habitats, per groundbreaking study.

Worldwide Spread of Fossil Fuel Infrastructure

Over 18.3k oil, gas, and coal locations are currently distributed throughout 170 countries worldwide, covering a large territory of the Earth's surface.

Proximity to extraction sites, industrial plants, transport lines, and additional oil and gas installations increases the danger of cancer, lung diseases, cardiovascular issues, early delivery, and death, while also posing grave threats to water supplies and air cleanliness, and damaging soil.

Close Proximity Hazards and Proposed Growth

Almost 463 million people, including over 120 million minors, presently dwell less than one kilometer of fossil fuel locations, while another three thousand five hundred or so new projects are now planned or in progress that could compel one hundred thirty-five million additional people to endure fumes, burning, and spills.

Most functioning projects have established toxic zones, converting nearby neighborhoods and vital ecosystems into so-called sacrifice zones – highly toxic areas where poor and marginalized communities carry the unequal weight of exposure to toxins.

Physical and Ecological Impacts

The report details the devastating physical consequences from drilling, refining, and movement, as well as demonstrating how spills, flares, and building harm irreplaceable natural ecosystems and weaken civil liberties – particularly of those residing near oil, natural gas, and coal facilities.

This occurs as global delegates, excluding the USA – the greatest long-term producer of carbon emissions – gather in Belém, the South American nation, for the 30th annual environmental talks during rising frustration at the lack of progress in phasing out coal, oil, and gas, which are driving environmental breakdown and civil liberties infringements.

"The fossil fuel industry and their public supporters have argued for decades that economic growth needs oil, gas, and coal. But we know that masked as economic growth, they have rather favored self-interest and earnings unchecked, infringed liberties with widespread impunity, and destroyed the atmosphere, natural world, and oceans."

Global Discussions and International Demand

Cop30 occurs as the Philippines, Mexico, and Jamaica are reeling from superstorms that were intensified by increased atmospheric and ocean temperatures, with nations under mounting urgency to take decisive steps to regulate coal and gas companies and stop mining, financial support, permits, and use in order to comply with a landmark judgment by the global judicial body.

Last week, reports indicated how over 5,350 oil and gas sector advocates have been granted entry to the international global conferences in the last several years, obstructing emission reductions while their sponsors extract historic quantities of petroleum and natural gas.

Study Process and Findings

The statistical research is based on a first-of-its-kind location-based exercise by scientists who compared information on the identified locations of fossil fuel infrastructure locations with population data, and datasets on critical ecosystems, carbon releases, and tribal land.

One-third of all active petroleum, coal, and natural gas locations overlap with one or more critical environments such as a marsh, forest, or river system that is rich in wildlife and vital for CO2 absorption or where environmental degradation or disaster could lead to ecosystem collapse.

The real global scale is likely greater due to deficiencies in the reporting of fossil fuel sites and restricted demographic data across countries.

Ecological Inequality and Indigenous Peoples

The findings reveal long-standing ecological inequity and discrimination in proximity to petroleum, gas, and coal mining industries.

Indigenous peoples, who represent 5% of the global population, are disproportionately exposed to health-reducing fossil fuel facilities, with one in six locations situated on Indigenous lands.

"We face multi-generational resistance weariness … Our bodies won't survive [this]. We have never been the initiators but we have borne the impact of all the violence."

The growth of fossil fuels has also been linked with property seizures, traditional loss, population conflict, and economic hardship, as well as violence, online threats, and legal actions, both criminal and civil, against community leaders calmly resisting the construction of pipelines, drilling projects, and other operations.

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