Amnesty Warns Fossil Fuel Expansion Threatens Billions and Fuels Climate Crisis

Amnesty Warns Fossil Fuel Expansion Threatens Billions and Fuels Climate Crisis
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The expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure is endangering billions of lives worldwide, Amnesty International warned in a new report released on Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported. The rights group urged world leaders to end their “obsession” with fossil fuels, saying the industry is accelerating the climate crisis and violating human rights.

According to the report, about two billion people — nearly a quarter of the global population — live within five kilometers of more than 18,000 operational fossil fuel sites. An additional 3,500 projects under development are expected to affect 135 million more people.

Amnesty’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard said the industry is “irreversibly altering the climate system” and destroying critical ecosystems. The report linked fossil fuel operations to serious health risks such as cancer, asthma, and cardiovascular diseases, as well as to human rights abuses against environmental defenders and Indigenous communities.

Despite making up less than 5 percent of the world’s population, Indigenous peoples host over 16 percent of global fossil fuel infrastructure on their territories. Callamard presented the findings at the COP30 climate summit in Belem, Brazil, warning of worsening harm to current and future generations.

Climate activists at the conference called for a global commitment to phase out fossil fuels. Kumi Naidoo, head of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty campaign, urged leaders to “turn off the tap” of carbon emissions. The UN says coal, oil, and gas account for roughly 68 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.