The new interactive Fossil Fuel Atlas reveals fossil fuel infrastructure and its threats to protected areas across the globe
The Fossil Fuel Atlas is a new tool that allows the public to see where existing and emerging fossil fuel extraction projects encroach on protected ecosystems, Indigenous territories, critical water sources and more.
Screenshot from the Fossil Fuel Atlas: Proposed Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (red) and its proximity to mangroves (green).
The world’s countries are on track to produce more than double the fossil fuels by 2030 than would be consistent with their Paris Agreement pledge to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Nevertheless, companies and countries continue to expand fossil fuel production and are doing so into areas that are culturally and biologically important, such as Ramsar-protected wetland sites and marine migration paths.
This interactive mapping platform, developed by Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (IGSD), and Global Energy Monitor (GEM), serves as an early warning tool that reveals where the fossil fuel industry plans to build new infrastructure and helps identify important ecological and cultural areas threatened by those projects. It allows civil society organizations, journalists, decision-makers, researchers and non-expert users to easily access relevant information and examine threats posed to vulnerable areas and communities. It also provides tools for creating map-based visualizations that compellingly illustrate what is at stake.
The Atlas can serve to effectively engage policymakers and the public on issues relating to phasing out fossil fuels in line with climate goals and protecting communities and ecosystems. It builds on best-in-class fossil fuel expansion data curated by GEM, including spatial data covering the hundreds of new oil and gas extraction projects and thousands of miles of pipelines currently in planning. It aggregates and integrates a range of social and ecological data sets, such as the more than 300 000 environmentally sensitive areas that have been designated for safeguarding, as well as freshwater resources, coral reefs and endangered species habitats.
“Concerns about climate change have been helping to phase out fossil fuel extraction, but not quickly enough,” says Sivan Kartha, SEI Senior Scientist and head of the Fossil Fuel Atlas team. “However, when you give people the tools to alert the public and policymakers to the damaging impacts that extraction poses to their own communities, livelihoods, and ecosystems – then they take action.”
Users can then generate geostories, compelling visualizations that can tell powerful stories narrated through a sequence of maps, data visualizations and written commentary. Geostories convey complicated information in an easy-to-grasp and engaging way to educate people on a specific topic – from land rights to water to public health and more – and inspire change.
The Fossil Fuel Atlas has already been used by civil society groups such as Global Gas and Oil Network to engage in local issues related to fossil fuel extraction, such as threats to marine ecosystems, public health, local ecological resources, and land rights. These are concrete issues for communities whose livelihoods and natural resources are threatened by fossil fuel extraction.
“A picture is worth a thousand words,” says Andy Rowell, contributing editor at Oil Change International. “The data and maps available from Fossil Fuel Atlas have been incredibly important for us to show the threat from oil development to three iconic Africa deltas in Namibia, Senegal and Nigeria on our new website.”
The developers continue to update the Atlas and will soon include information on critical mineral mining, and newly opened global oil and gas lease blocks, as well as prospects for responsibly sited renewable energy projects.
Visit the Fossil Fuel Atlas website to access maps, datasets and geostories, and learn how to produce custom maps and data visualizations.
For more information and interview requests, please contact:
Ulrika Lamberth, Senior Press Officer, Stockholm Environment Institute, + 46 73 801 70 53 (CET), ulrika.lamberth@sei.org
Lynsi Burton, Communications Officer, Stockholm Environment Institute, + 1 360 485 30 41 (PST), lynsi.burton@sei.org
Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) is an international non-profit research institute that tackles environment and sustainable development challenges.
We empower partners to meet these challenges through cutting-edge research, knowledge, tools and capacity building. Through SEI’s HQ and seven centres around the world, we engage with policy, practice and development action for a sustainable, prosperous future for all. www.sei.org @SEIresearch @SEIclimate
