Amnesty: Fossil Fuel Expansion Endangers Billions — Calls for Immediate Phase-Out Roadmap

Amnesty International has released a major report at the COP30 UN climate conference in Belém, Brazil, warning that the continued expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure places billions of people at risk and intensifies the global climate emergency.

Key findings include that at least 2 billion people — roughly one-quarter of the world’s population — live within 5 km (3.1 miles) of more than 18,000 active fossil fuel sites. Researchers also identified over 3,500 new projects under development that are expected to affect an additional 135 million people.

“This ever-expanding industry is endangering billions of lives, irreversibly altering the climate system and destroying critical natural ecosystems,”

Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International secretary general.

The report documents multiple harms associated with proximity to oil and gas extraction sites, coal mines and power plants, including higher rates of cancer, asthma, cardiovascular disease and other public health problems. It also highlights serious human rights abuses linked to fossil fuel projects, such as killings, enforced disappearances and intimidation — disproportionately affecting environmental defenders and Indigenous communities defending their territories.

Amnesty’s analysis found a stark disproportion in impacts on Indigenous peoples: although Indigenous populations account for less than 5% of the global population, at least 16.1% of known global fossil fuel infrastructure is located on Indigenous territories.

“We are presenting those findings here at COP to warn of the current harm, to warn of the immense damage that the fossil fuel obsession is doing to many peoples and to warn against what they are going to do to future generations,”

Callamard added: “The age of fossil fuel must end now. It is a major source of human rights violations.”

Speakers at COP30 — including campaigners such as Kumi Naidoo, president of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty campaign — urged world leaders to adopt a clear roadmap to rapidly phase out fossil fuels. Naidoo said policymakers have long focused on treating symptoms rather than stopping the root cause of the climate emergency.

Context and public opinion: the United Nations estimates that coal, oil and gas are responsible for about 68% of global greenhouse gas emissions. A 2024 UN Development Programme survey cited in the report found that more than 80% of people worldwide want stronger government action on climate, and 72% support a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels.

The report calls on governments and industry to stop approving new fossil fuel projects, protect affected communities and Indigenous rights, and adopt an equitable, time-bound plan for phasing out fossil fuels to safeguard health, human rights and the climate for current and future generations.