A BBC-led investigation has discovered that pollution from an Egyptian oil facility on the Red Sea coast is threatening the survival of some of the world’s last thriving coral reefs.
According to experts who studied satellite imagery of the area, contaminated water has been entering the sea since 1985 and was still flowing as recently as September.
Until three years ago, the plant was jointly owned by the British oil giant BP and Egypt’s state-owned Gupco oil company.
Egypt is hosting the COP27 climate summit, and neither the environment ministry nor Gupco would comment on the findings.
Red Sea corals have a unique ability to withstand warming sea temperatures.
The investigation was undertaken by BBC News Arabic and journalists from the group Source Material.