EITI Conference 2023

Africa has abundant reserves of transition minerals like cobalt and lithium that are essential for renewable energy technology. However, mining in Africa is already plagued by corruption, opacity, environmental damages, and human rights abuses. This panel discussion will explore the implications of the fierce competition for these minerals, risks to communities, and ways to influence industry practices and government policy. This session will also introduce PWYP’s new Pan-African campaign for responsible transition minerals and begin building support.

In Africa, more than half of oil and gas producing countries rely on oil and gas exports for more than 50 percent of their total export revenues. At the same time, approximately 600 million (45%) Africans are without electricity.  Decoupling fossil fuels from economic growth - at the local, national and global level - will be complex and pose challenges to community cohesion, economic stability and the efficacy of climate action. How the extractive industries of today and tomorrow are governed, operated and are held accountable will determine how just the energy transition will be. But with the right backing and policies, many countries that currently export oil and gas could become leaders on renewables, kickstarting a new era of clean development, affordable energy access, and sustainable revenues. This in turn could unlock opportunities beyond the energy sector, in education, health, employment and infrastructure, as the benefits of a just transition ripple out across society.

This parallel session will look at these driving and constraining forces in depth and explore PWYP’s role in accelerating a fair fossil fuel phase out.  Oxfam will also present on its forthcoming analysis: “Senegal’s Petroleum Future or a Stranded Asset Risk?  Financial Modelling Energy Transition Pricing Scenarios and Potential Government Revenue from the Rufisque Offshore Profond Project.”

This session focuses on the EITI assessment of company progress in meeting the Expectations for EITI supporting companies and considers how EITI company disclosures contribute to enhanced ESG performance.

While company disclosures under the EITI were previously limited to data collected by governments and presented in EITI Reports, a broader set of company disclosures is now assessed under the Expectations of EITI supporting companies. This data – published through company websites and reports – offers opportunities for a range of stakeholders to improve corporate accountability and governance and showcase good practices.

This session will raise awareness about the Expectations for EITI supporting companies and present the EITI’s assessment of company progress in meeting the Expectations, highlighting best practices by companies. Stakeholders will consider how companies, investors, government and civil society can use and benefit from company disclosures, including those made through EITI reporting, and discuss how the data can contribute to investment decisions and performance on environmental, social and governance (ESG) indicators.

This session examines the risks and opportunities that the energy transition presents, and discusses the necessary steps that must be taken today to ensure that extractive projects play a role in achieving a just, inclusive and equitable path to a net-zero world.

Hosted by: Commonwealth Secretariat, Ford Foundation, Oxfam, Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour (UPPA)

The scale, scope and urgency of the climate crisis and energy transition are creating new risks and uncertainties for the extractive industries. Navigating the dilemmas and social, energy and environmental justice challenges of the climate crisis will likely require new approaches to extractive sector governance. Unless issues like rights, fairness, equality and inclusiveness are applied across the full project life cycle, the risk profile of extractive industry projects will increase, thereby creating or exacerbating uncertainties and conflict.

This session considers these issues from different perspectives and proposes potential solutions for how business and government can manage and respond to these challenges today and therefore not risk delaying the just energy transition. It considers how to raise awareness of these risks to inform decision-making to ensure countries manage their extractive resources in a way that contributes to a just, inclusive and equitable net-zero world.

This session takes stock of lessons from governments and companies on the benefits of disclosing contracts of energy and extractives projects as the energy transition gathers pace.

Extractive companies that have adopted policies on contract disclosure have demonstrated that contract transparency is a sound business decision. This session will gather representatives from industry, civil society and government to share good practices, lessons learned and insights from implementing contract transparency in the extractive sector. Further, it will illustrate why these good practices are relevant for a responsible energy transition and how contract disclosure can help to address related governance risks. Stakeholders will consider the benefits of contract disclosure as the energy transition gathers pace, such as increasing investor confidence; giving assurance to company stakeholders on the deals they have signed; strengthening oversight by regulatory agencies; and enabling civil society to hold companies and government accountable.

This session explores the emergence of tax transparency and public country-by-country reporting (pCbCR) and its complementarity to EITI disclosures, including payments to governments. It highlights good practices in voluntary company disclosures and how related regulations and tax transparency standards – such as the EITI, GRI’s Tax Standard and ICMM’s Mining Principles – may evolve.

Hosted by: Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), ICMM, Oxfam

Enabling public oversight of extractive sector revenues has long been a core priority of EITI. Tax transparency can help companies demonstrate that they are not engaging in harmful tax avoidance practices that impede government revenue collection. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standard (207) on tax has emerged as the dominant international standard for tax transparency reporting, and a range of extractive companies voluntarily disclose tax transparency reports. ICMM recently became the first industry association to require public country-by-country reporting.

This session discusses the challenges of tax avoidance in the extractive sector and the emerging movement for tax transparency. It highlights some of the good practices and leadership of EITI companies and industry associations and discusses the complementarity between EITI reporting and tax disclosures. Furthermore, it explores how tax disclosures can be used by stakeholders such as investors and tax authorities.

Led by Oxfam America, this session examines opportunities for using EITI reporting to strengthen transparency on project costs and manage revenue loss risks.

EITI implementation has been essential in strengthening contract transparency in the extractive sector. Refinements in the 2023 EITI Standard take this a step further by requesting that countries disclose their practices to monitor project costs and managing revenue loss risks. This session provides an overview of new requirements and identifies strategies for disclosing project costs in EITI implementing countries.

This session explores the added value of EITI disclosures on the social and environmental impact of extractive operations, as well as opportunities to use the 2023 EITI Standard to strengthen reporting in this area

Information on the social and environmental impact of extractive activities has been a continuous demand from civil society representatives in EITI implementing countries. This session presents reflections and innovations from National Coordinators, civil society representatives and other stakeholders on using EITI reporting to monitor environmental impacts. It also highlights refined provisions of the EITI Standard on disclosing environmental information, as well as linkages with other international agreements such as the Escazú Agreement in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Aarhus Convention in Europe, and the Access Initiative in Africa. It builds on country-level experiences and stakeholder insights to explore how EITI reporting can inform debate and policies on monitoring and managing the environmental and social impacts of extractive activities.