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One-fourth of the world's population resides within five kilometers of functioning coal, oil, and gas sites, likely endangering the health of exceeding 2bn individuals as well as vital ecosystems, based on pioneering analysis.

Worldwide Spread of Oil and Gas Infrastructure

Over 18.3k oil, natural gas, and coal mining sites are currently located in 170 nations worldwide, occupying a vast expanse of the world's surface.

Proximity to extraction sites, processing plants, pipelines, and further coal and gas operations elevates the threat of cancer, respiratory conditions, cardiac problems, premature birth, and mortality, while also causing grave dangers to water supplies and air cleanliness, and degrading soil.

Close Proximity Hazards and Future Development

Almost 463 million residents, counting over 120 million children, currently dwell within one kilometer of coal and gas operations, while a further 3.5k or so new projects are presently planned or under development that could compel over 130 million more individuals to endure emissions, burning, and leaks.

Nearly all active projects have established toxic hotspots, transforming adjacent neighborhoods and essential ecosystems into referred to as disposable areas – highly polluted zones where low-income and disadvantaged populations bear the unequal load of exposure to pollution.

Medical and Environmental Consequences

The report outlines the severe medical toll from extraction, processing, and movement, as well as illustrating how seepages, ignitions, and construction damage irreplaceable natural ecosystems and weaken civil liberties – notably of those dwelling in proximity to oil, gas, and coal infrastructure.

This occurs as world leaders, excluding the United States – the greatest past source of climate pollutants – gather in Belem, the South American nation, for the thirtieth environmental talks in the context of rising concern at the limited movement in eliminating oil, gas, and coal, which are leading to global ecological crisis and human rights violations.

"Coal and petroleum corporations and its state sponsors have maintained for decades that societal progress needs oil, gas, and coal. But we know that in the name of prosperity, they have rather served greed and earnings without red lines, breached rights with near-complete exemption, and harmed the atmosphere, biosphere, and oceans."

Climate Negotiations and Global Urgency

Cop30 is held as the Philippines, the North American country, and Jamaica are suffering from extreme weather events that were intensified by higher atmospheric and sea heat levels, with countries under mounting demand to take strong action to control fossil fuel companies and stop extraction, financial support, authorizations, and consumption in order to comply with a significant ruling by the international court of justice.

In recent days, disclosures showed how over over 5.3k oil and gas sector influence peddlers have been granted access to the UN global conferences in the last several years, hindering environmental measures while their sponsors drill for unprecedented volumes of oil and gas.

Study Approach and Data

The statistical research is based on a innovative location-based exercise by experts who compared records on the identified locations of fossil fuel infrastructure projects with demographic data, and datasets on critical ecosystems, carbon outputs, and native communities' territories.

A third of all operational oil, coal, and gas facilities intersect with multiple critical ecosystems such as a marsh, jungle, or aquatic network that is rich in wildlife and vital for CO2 absorption or where ecological degradation or disaster could lead to habitat destruction.

The real global scale is likely greater due to gaps in the recording of coal and gas sites and restricted demographic records in countries.

Environmental Injustice and Native Communities

The data reveal entrenched environmental unfairness and discrimination in exposure to oil, gas, and coal sectors.

Indigenous peoples, who comprise 5% of the global population, are disproportionately subjected to dangerous coal and gas facilities, with one in six locations positioned on tribal lands.

"We're experiencing multi-generational battle fatigue … Our bodies will not withstand [this]. We are not the instigators but we have borne the force of all the aggression."

The expansion of coal, oil, and gas has also been linked with territorial takeovers, cultural pillage, population conflict, and economic hardship, as well as violence, internet intimidation, and lawsuits, both penal and civil, against population advocates calmly resisting the development of transport lines, drilling projects, and further infrastructure.

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