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Amnesty International warns fossil fuel infrastructure is a \u2018major source of human rights violations\u2019 around the world.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure is threatening billions of lives around the globe, Amnesty International has said in a new report, urging world leaders to halt an \u201cobsession\u201d with energy sources that fuel the climate crisis.<\/p>\n Released on Wednesday, the report found that at least 2 billion people \u2013 about one-quarter of the world\u2019s population \u2013 live within 5km (3.1 miles) of more than 18,000 fossil fuel infrastructure sites currently in operation.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n More than 3,500 new sites are also being developed that will affect 135 million more people, Amnesty International chief Agnes Callamard told reporters.<\/p>\n \u201cThis ever-expanding industry is endangering billions of lives, irreversibly altering the climate system and destroying critical natural ecosystem[s],\u201d Callamard said at a news conference on the sidelines of the COP30 UN climate conference in Brazil, where the report\u2019s findings were unveiled.<\/p>\n Living near fossil fuel infrastructure \u2013 such as oil-and-gas extraction sites and coal mines and plants \u2013 has been associated with elevated risks of cancer, asthma, cardiovascular illnesses and other health problems, Amnesty said in its report.<\/p>\n The industry has also been linked to human rights abuses, including killings and enforced disappearances, particularly against environmental activists and Indigenous peoples defending their territories against fossil fuel projects.<\/p>\n Wednesday\u2019s report noted that \u201cdespite representing less than 5 percent of the global population, at least 16.1 percent of known global fossil fuel infrastructure is sited on Indigenous territories\u201d around the world.<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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,\u201d Callamard said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe age of fossil fuel must end now. It is a major source of human rights violations. It may be one of the main source[s] of human rights violations historically speaking.\u201d<\/p>\n World leaders, human rights activists, climate experts and others have been gathering in the Brazilian city of Belem for COP30, the UN\u2019s annual climate conference.<\/p>\n While countries have pledged to tackle the climate crisis, observers have questioned how they plan to meet their commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while fossil fuel projects continue to expand.<\/p>\n Indigenous activists also stormed the summit this week to demand that their voices be heard in the discussions.<\/p>\n Kumi Naidoo, president of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty campaign, called on world leaders to leave COP30 with \u201ca clear statement that you are going to support a roadmap for the phase-out of fossil fuels\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s high time that we recognise that, for 30 years \u2026 we\u2019ve been mopping up the floor and treating the symptoms of the problem without turning off the tap,\u201d Naidoo said during Wednesday\u2019s news conference.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s be very clear and say it over and over again, that the primary cause of the climate emergency is our addiction and our dependency on fossil fuels.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the UN, coal, oil and gas \u201care by far the largest contributor[s] to global climate change\u201d, responsible for about 68 percent of the world\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\nRecommended Stories <\/h2>\n