"Global plans to drill and expand fossil fuel projects overlap with marine protected areas and important fishing grounds, a new report finds."
"From coral reefs in Kenya to Caribbean seagrass meadows and whale migration corridors in the Arctic, a surge in offshore oil, gas and liquefied natural gas development is spreading into some of the world’s most ecologically important marine habitats, according to a new analysis.
In many cases, researchers from Earth Insight—a nonprofit that maps fossil fuel, mining and other industrial threats to ecosystems and local communities—found planned and active offshore oil and gas projects overlap with areas meant to safeguard critical ecosystems.
More than a quarter of the marine and coastal protected areas examined across 11 countries fall within zones at risk for oil and gas development, as are 40 percent of coral reefs and nearly a third of mangrove forests. In these same countries, half of all areas used by whales and other marine mammals for migration, feeding and breeding also converge with areas designated by governments for exploration and extraction referred to as oil and gas blocks."
Teresa Tomassoni reports for Inside Climate News June 29, 2026.
