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Begin New Search Content Type Policy Brief Publishing Institution Natural Resource Governance Institute Publication Year within 5 Years Publication Year within 10 Years

1. Unfinished Business: Contract Transparency in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

Author:
Robert Pitman and Aubrey Menard
Publication Date:
06-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
How are EITI-implementing countries faring with disclosure of oil, gas and mining contracts? The urgency of climate action and the complexity of the energy transition mean it has never been more important to be able to understand the deals made between companies and governments for oil, gas and minerals. For this reason, since 2021, implementing countries of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) have been required to disclose the contracts between governments and extractive companies. This briefing by the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), Oxfam and Publish What You Pay (PWYP) surveys the contract disclosure practice of the 57 EITI-implementing countries to understand the extent of their contract disclosure practice. The briefing highlights trends, areas of insufficient disclosure and best practices. Readers can explore the data on a dedicated visual tool on the #disclosethedeal microsite.
Topic:
Corruption, Natural Resources, Accountability, Transparency, and Extractive Industries
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. Why Senegal Should Minimize Petroleum Operations Emissions

Author:
Papa Daouda Diene, Thomas Scurfield, and William Davis
Publication Date:
09-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
Slowing climate change is not the only reason Senegal should reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Minimizing emissions, particularly of methane, from the country’s oil and gas operations will increase government revenues, support its ambitions to use gas to increase domestic energy access, and reduce harms to the health and environment of local communities. Senegal’s government is starting to act on minimizing emissions from oil and gas production, but officials should consider strengthening the regulatory framework to support emissions minimization. Greater transparency and accountability, including effective campaigning by civil society actors, is critical to ensure effective action by companies, investors and the government. Measures to reduce oil and gas methane emissions have been well-known and cost-effective for many years, but progress in most countries has been slow. Senegal’s government should at a minimum ensure that the existing regulatory framework is publicly accessible, while Senegal EITI should advocate for disclosure of actual emissions when oil and gas production starts.
Topic:
Gas, Fossil Fuels, Carbon Emissions, and Energy Transition
Political Geography:
Africa and Senegal

3. NRGI Impact: Knitting the Fabric of Civil Society Activism in Tunisia (2013-2020)

Author:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
Tunisia is the only country to have accomplished a peaceful transition from authoritarianism after the Arab Spring uprisings, but its democratic gains are not yet entrenched. Tunisians have experienced persistent political instability and voter turnout has been waning—particularly among young people. The governance of extractive industries has influenced, and in turn been impacted, by both the prevailing political context and global dynamics. After the 2013 revolution, there was scant civil society capacity and limited focus on extractives, accompanied by low levels of trust of international partners. Tunisia’s oil and gas reserves are small compared to other resource-rich countries in the region. In addition, political instability and an uncompetitive fiscal regime led to a decline in foreign investment in the sector. As production and prices fell, oil and gas revenues dropped. In terms of mining, the country went from being the world’s fourth largest phosphate producer in 2010 to 20th in 2017. In 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic, Tunisia resorted to importing phosphate. The production decline is due largely to recurring protests, particularly in the Gafsa phosphate mining basin, which led to regular mining stoppages. Local populations are frustrated because phosphate mining brings limited benefits, whether in terms of revenue, social spending by companies or employment opportunities. Similar dynamics prevail in the oilproducing region of Tataouine and other resource-producing areas. Political and institutional volatility has negatively impacted reform plans. The portfolio of the ministry in charge of extractive industries was modified or restructured five times and saw eight leadership changes between 2011 and 2016, including following corruption scandals. The ministry was restructured many time subsquently. These changes have contributed to faltering momentum and delayed reform. The pandemic has further exacerbated some of these challenges.
Topic:
Civil Society, Oil, Natural Resources, Gas, Arab Spring, and Activism
Political Geography:
North Africa and Tunisia

4. Mongolia’s State-Owned Mining Enterprises: A Deeper Look Into Glass Accounts Data

Author:
Dorjdari Namkhaijantsan
Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
Mongolia’s Glass Accounts Law (2014) requires that government entities and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) disclose detailed financial and operational information on a public website. The government’s Glass Accounts portal has since become a focal point for government transparency. However, uptake of the law has been uneven among government entities, and specifically for many SOEs operating in Mongolia. In part, this lack of implementation stems from the law’s ambiguity on who should report, but it also resulted from the government’s inactivity and poor enforcement as well as limited sanctions for those who do not comply.
Topic:
Governance, Mining, Data, and State-Owned Enterprises
Political Geography:
Mongolia and Asia

5. Laying Foundations for Civic Engagement and Government Accountability in Guinea (2011-2020)

Author:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
When President Alpha Condé took office after Guinea’s first democratic election in 2010, he promised to reform the country’s mining sector. Following decades of sector mismanagement and corruption, Guinea introduced a new mining code in 2011 (later amended in 2013) and, in 2012, the government committed to implementing the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Standard and reviewed 19 mining contracts signed by previous administrations. This reform effort precipitated a significant expansion of the industry: investments picked up and bauxite exports rose, and mining revenues grew. Despite progress, and because of the speed of mining expansion, communities in mining areas experienced increasingly negative impacts from the industry. Their interests went unaddressed; the government had been slow to implement key regulations aimed at protecting them. As a result, 2016 saw uprisings in key bauxite-producing areas. In addition, civil society engagement on extractive issues was weak and fragmented; citizens, activists and journalists lacked crucial information and were ill-equipped to engage on key governance issues.
Topic:
Government, Natural Resources, Governance, Accountability, and Civic Engagement
Political Geography:
Africa and Guinea

6. Resource-Backed Loans in Ghana: Risks, Opportunities and Lessons

Author:
Denis Gyeyir
Publication Date:
06-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
Developing countries have trouble financing development mainly due to limited access to capital markets, high cost of borrowing, slow growth, or a mix of these. Countries with natural resource endowments have attempted in the last few decades to leverage these endowments to surmount those challenges. Many of their development efforts focus on closing huge infrastructure gaps. Ghana is a producer of cocoa, minerals, oil and gas—assets that have increasingly featured in the government’s infrastructure financing plans. Ghana’s infrastructure financing totaled USD 23 billion between 2007 and 2020, and annual infrastructure investment will need to reach $9.3 billion by 2030 (13.9 percent of 2019 GDP). Official development funding and private sector financing have been inadequate to meet these infrastructure needs. As a result, the Ghana Infrastructure Plan identifies Chinese infrastructural funding as a source to fill the gap. Ghana’s infrastructure financing has in part relied on leveraging its natural resources. Through resource-backed loans (RBLs), governments (directly or through state-owned companies) borrow funds and repay the loans in physical natural resources or with money from resource-related future income streams. Ghana has entered into three such RBL deals, totaling more than $5 billion, in the last two decades; all three involve Chinese state-owned enterprises as lenders.
Topic:
Natural Resources, Infrastructure, Resource-Backed Loans, and Revenue Management
Political Geography:
Africa and Ghana

7. Prospects for Mexico’s Lithium Sector After Reforms to the Mining Law

Author:
Fernanda Ballesteros
Publication Date:
07-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
The Mining Law reform establishes that lithium exploration, mining and use are activities for which the state is responsible, without the option to grant concessions, based on the argument that they are activities in the public interest. The Mining Law reform leads to the existence of a dual legal system for lithium. On the one hand, the concessions already granted are regulated and monitored by the Ministry of the Economy. On the other hand, exploration and mining that takes place after the reform will be carried out by the state through a state-owned company. The objectives and responsibilities of the state within this dual system are unclear. For the mining and processing of lithium to be an opportunity that translates into benefits for Mexican people, clear, consistent and credible policies are needed. There are challenges in terms of governance, both for the special system created and the general concessions system. At NRGI, we have identified three aspects of governance we believe require analysis: (1) failures in governance of the general system; (2) governance of state-owned companies; and (3) supply chains and value generation.
Topic:
Natural Resources, Reform, Mining, Lithium, Energy, and Green Transition
Political Geography:
North America and Mexico

8. NRGI Impact: Guinean Communities Benefit from Mining Revenues and Civil Society Capacity Building

Author:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Publication Date:
10-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
Like many resource-rich low-income countries, Guinea faces challenges in leveraging its natural resource wealth for sustainable development. Despite being the world’s second largest bauxite producer and rich in iron ore, gold and diamonds, Guinea has so far delivered only limited benefits from mining to its citizens, more than half of whom live in poverty. Guinea introduced sector-wide reforms following democratization in 2010 and is successfully implementing the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). However, social unrest, political instability, and the impacts of the Ebola crisis and coronavirus pandemic have slowed the country’s progress toward ensuring that mining income helps improve citizens’ quality of life.
Topic:
Civil Society, Natural Resources, Mining, Revenue Management, and Revenue Sharing
Political Geography:
Africa and Guinea

9. Preventing Corruption in Energy Transition Mineral Supply Chains

Author:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Publication Date:
12-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
Experts have issued an urgent call for reforms to tackle the pressing issue of corruption in transition mineral supply chains. Corruption undermines key safeguards that protect local communities and the environment, redirects public money into private hands, and disrupts and delays production just when responsibly produced minerals are urgently needed to meet climate goals. Corruption in mineral supply chains threatens a just energy transition and risks derailing global efforts to fight climate change. The global fight against climate change relies on our ability to scale up low-carbon infrastructure, which requires more minerals than fossil-fuel-based systems.
Topic:
Corruption, Supply Chains, Minerals, and Energy Transition
Political Geography:
Global Focus

10. Measuring Extractives Dependency: Why it Matters and New Approaches

Author:
William Davis
Publication Date:
12-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
When countries depend too heavily on extractive industries (extraction of nonrenewable natural resources) it can pose problems for their economies. These include: The volatility of natural resource commodity prices, which can cause shocks that are difficult for the country to manage The exhaustibility of natural resources and the challenges of replacing them as a source of income when they run out The political economy of governments relying on natural resources, which seems to make governments less effective (e.g., if they rely on resource wealth to fund themselves rather than developing other sectors of the economy) To address resource dependency, we need to be able to measure it. With this in mind, NRGI has produced a new dataset that builds on existing literature to provide a broad range of indicators of dependency on the extractive industries. This dataset is primarily for internal use by NRGI colleagues, but is also freely available to interested researchers. The aim of this dataset is to support a more multidimensional approach to understanding resource dependency, its causes and consequences. The related briefing explains the rationale behind the dataset and its various indicators, and some includes some initial insights based on analysis of the data.
Topic:
Natural Resources, Tax Systems, Data, Revenue Management, and Dependency
Political Geography:
Global Focus