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One-fourth of the world's people resides inside 5km of functioning oil, gas, and coal facilities, possibly threatening the physical condition of more than two billion individuals as well as vital natural habitats, based on pioneering analysis.

Global Spread of Fossil Fuel Operations

Over 18,300 petroleum, gas, and coal mining locations are now located throughout over 170 nations globally, covering a extensive territory of the Earth's land.

Closeness to drilling wells, refineries, conduits, and further fossil fuel facilities increases the threat of malignancies, lung diseases, heart disease, premature birth, and fatality, while also creating serious dangers to drinking water and air quality, and damaging land.

Close Proximity Hazards and Planned Development

Almost 463 million people, encompassing 124 million children, currently reside within one kilometer of coal and gas sites, while a further three thousand five hundred or so new sites are now under consideration or being built that could compel 135 million more residents to endure emissions, burning, and leaks.

Nearly all operational sites have formed contamination zones, transforming surrounding populations and vital ecosystems into often termed expendable regions – severely toxic zones where low-income and marginalized populations carry the disproportionate weight of proximity to pollution.

Health and Natural Consequences

This analysis details the harmful health impact from drilling, treatment, and transportation, as well as illustrating how seepages, burning, and building harm irreplaceable natural ecosystems and weaken human rights – notably of those dwelling close to petroleum, natural gas, and coal mining facilities.

This occurs as global delegates, without the USA – the largest long-term source of greenhouse gases – meet in Belem, the South American nation, for the 30th global climate conference during growing frustration at the limited movement in eliminating oil, gas, and coal, which are causing environmental breakdown and human rights violations.

"The fossil fuel industry and its state sponsors have maintained for decades that human development depends on oil, gas, and coal. But research shows that under the guise of financial development, they have instead served greed and earnings without red lines, violated liberties with almost total exemption, and harmed the atmosphere, biosphere, and seas."

Environmental Discussions and Worldwide Demand

The environmental summit occurs as the the Asian nation, Mexico, and Jamaica are reeling from extreme weather events that were intensified by warmer atmospheric and sea heat levels, with nations under mounting urgency to take decisive action to regulate fossil fuel corporations and stop mining, government funding, permits, and consumption in order to follow a historic ruling by the international court of justice.

Last week, reports indicated how over over 5.3k fossil fuel industry advocates have been given entry to the United Nations environmental negotiations in the last several years, blocking environmental measures while their sponsors pump record quantities of oil and gas.

Analysis Approach and Data

This data-driven analysis is based on a first-of-its-kind geospatial effort by experts who cross-referenced information on the identified locations of oil and gas facilities locations with population figures, and datasets on vital habitats, carbon outputs, and native communities' territories.

A third of all active oil, coal mining, and gas sites intersect with multiple key environments such as a wetland, woodland, or aquatic network that is abundant in species diversity and vital for carbon sequestration or where natural degradation or disaster could lead to environmental breakdown.

The real international scale is probably greater due to gaps in the reporting of fossil fuel projects and limited population information across countries.

Environmental Injustice and Indigenous Communities

The results show entrenched environmental inequity and racism in proximity to petroleum, natural gas, and coal operations.

Indigenous peoples, who represent five percent of the global residents, are unfairly exposed to health-reducing fossil fuel facilities, with one in six facilities situated on tribal areas.

"We're experiencing long-term battle fatigue … We physically will not withstand [this]. We have never been the instigators but we have borne the impact of all the violence."

The expansion of fossil fuels has also been associated with land grabs, traditional loss, community division, and loss of livelihoods, as well as force, internet intimidation, and legal actions, both criminal and civil, against community leaders calmly resisting the building of transport lines, extraction operations, and further facilities.

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