Extractive industries overlap with protected tropical lands, report finds

Extractive industries currently overlap millions of hectares of protected lands in tropical countries, according to a report published by Earth Insight. Mongabay reported that ongoing and planned oil and gas blocks cover more than 61.5 million hectares, or 151.9 million acres, of protected and conserved areas across the tropics. This total area is roughly two and a half times the size of the United Kingdom. [1][2]

Mongabay also reported that another 42.7 million hectares, equal to 105.5 million acres, of protected areas are impacted by further industrial overlaps. These industrial footprints directly conflict with global conservation commitments to safeguard natural ecosystems. [1][2]

Human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels, drive the modern rise in global temperatures. Deforestation, fossil fuel extraction, and industrial practices release greenhouse gases that absorb thermal radiation, warming the lower atmosphere. Earth's atmosphere currently contains roughly 50 percent more carbon dioxide than in pre-industrial times. [3]

The widespread overlap of industrial blocks puts international targets at risk. The expansion of these extractive operations threatens the global objective to protect 30 percent of nature by 2030. [1][2]