In May 2025, a new study by the Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals found just 100 corporations are behind one fifth of documented extractive conflicts worldwide.

The study is based on data from the Environmental Justice Atlas, an interactive map documenting extractive conflicts.

The most conflictive 100 corporations include large multinationals headquartered in the global north, such as Shell, Glencore, Repsol, and Bayer. The study emphasises that the negative impacts of their activities affect communities in the Global South. The study allegedly exposes “how companies from the Global North seize resources and profits, while social and ecological harms are imposed on the Global South”.

The study also shows that, when multinationals are involved in extractive conflicts, there are more violent events, forced displacements, land dispossessions, and other adverse human rights impacts.

Further, the study also argues that voluntary initiatives do not do enough to tackle these issues. For example, the study finds many of the companies operating in the extractives sector with severe adverse human rights impacts are also part of initiatives such as the UN Global Compact. The study therefore calls for mandatory and enforceable regulations.

In June, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Shell, Glencore, Repsol, and Bayer to respond to the study. Glencore, Bayer and Repsol's responses can be read in full below. Shell did not respond.