Oil and gas extraction activities across terrestrial and marine environments cause habitat destruction, pollution, noise, and direct mortality affecting billions of wild animals.
Oil and gas operations impose welfare costs on wild animals that span acute disasters and chronic, cumulative habitat degradation. Oil spills are the most visible welfare events, causing suffering to individual animals that is dramatic and documented, but the sub-lethal effects of chronic low-level pollution, noise, habitat fragmentation, and disturbance affect far more animals over time. Strong regulatory controls on drilling locations, mandatory containment and response infrastructure, and realistic enforcement of ecological protection zones are the primary policy levers. Consumer energy choices and divestment from fossil fuel companies provide complementary pressure.