Fossil fuel projects worldwide threaten the health of 2 billion people - study
Kyiv • UNN
A quarter of the world's population, over two billion people, lives within five kilometers of active fossil fuel extraction facilities. This increases the risk of developing cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and also poses a threat to water supply and air quality.
A quarter of the world's population lives within five kilometers of active fossil fuel extraction sites, potentially threatening the health of over two billion people, as well as critical ecosystems, according to a first-of-its-kind study reported by The Guardian, writes UNN.
Details
A new critical report by Amnesty International, exclusively provided to The Guardian, states that over 18,300 oil, gas, and coal fields are currently located in 170 countries worldwide, occupying large areas of the Earth's surface.
"Proximity to wells, processing plants, pipelines, and other fossil fuel extraction facilities increases the risk of cancer, respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, premature births, and death, and also poses a serious threat to water supply and air quality, as well as degrading land," the publication writes.
Almost half a billion (463 million) people, including 124 million children, are reportedly currently living within 1 km of fossil fuel extraction sites. In addition, about 3,500 new facilities are currently being proposed or developed, which could lead to another 135 million people suffering from fumes, flaring, and spills, according to the report "Extraction Extinction: Why the Lifecycle of Fossil Fuels Threatens Life, Nature, and Human Rights."
Most active projects, it is noted, create pollution hotspots, turning nearby settlements and critical ecosystems into so-called "sacrifice zones" – heavily polluted areas where low-income and marginalized populations bear a disproportionately large burden of exposure to pollution and toxins.
The report details the devastating health impacts associated with extraction, processing, and transportation, and demonstrates how leaks, flaring, and construction destroy irreplaceable natural ecosystems and violate human rights, especially those living near oil, gas, and coal infrastructure.
This comes as world leaders, with the exception of the US – historically the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions – gather in Belém, Brazil, for the 30th annual climate talks amid growing frustration over the lack of progress in phasing out fossil fuels, "leading to planetary collapse and human rights violations," the publication writes.
"The fossil fuel industry and its state sponsors have argued for decades that fossil fuels are necessary for human development. But we know that under the guise of economic growth, they have instead served greed and profit without red lines, violated rights with almost complete impunity, and destroyed the atmosphere, biosphere, and oceans," said Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
"COP30 leaders must put people's interests at the center of negotiations, not profit and power, by committing to a complete, rapid, just, and financed phase-out of fossil fuels and a just transition to sustainable energy for all," she noted.
The quantitative analysis is based on a first-of-its-kind mapping study conducted by researchers from the Better Planet Lab (BPL) at the University of Colorado Boulder. They compared data on known locations of fossil fuel extraction infrastructure with census data and datasets on critical ecosystems, greenhouse gas emissions, and Indigenous lands.