Taxonomy
"Follow the money": new animated short
Oxfam America has just launched a new animated video showing how so little of the profits from extractive industries reach local communities. In the US the video is intended to encourage people to take action and contact their member of Congress regarding the Energy Security Through Transparency Act – a crucial piece of legislation that would require any company registered with the US authorities (Securities and Exchange Commission) to disclose their payments in every country of operation.
Bipartisan bill proposes simple SEC rule change to help stabilize U.S. energy sources and raw materials
Oil, gas and mineral companies can reduce global instability by opening the books on their payments, say investors, industry experts, and human rights advocates
Washington, D.C.— A little more public information could make a big difference in the stability of U.S. energy supplies, say congressional and industry leaders and leading international activists who have renewed the call for a “publish what you pay” rule change at the U.S.
PWYP Welcomes Adoption of Transparency Act in Liberia
London: Publish What You Pay (PWYP)* welcomes the news that Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has signed a new transparency law which increases accountability over the management of the country’s natural resources.
Approved on 10 July 2009, the LEITI Act seeks to ensure that the benefits due to the government and people of Liberia from the exploitation of natural resources are “verifiably paid or provided; duly accounted for; and prudently utilized for the benefits of all Liberians….”
Revenues from oil, gas and mining must benefit all Cambodians, new coalition urges
Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Cambodians for Resource Revenue Transparency (CRRT), a new coalition of civil society organizations was launched today and urged the Royal Government of Cambodia, donors, private businesses, and other stakeholders to promote transparency in the management of revenues from oil, gas and mining to ensure that they benefit every citizen of Cambodia.
As Cambodia is expected to experience a sudden resource windfall, careful planning is needed to ensure that a sudden increase in revenues and expenditures are properly managed in a socially transparent and accountable manner that especially reaches the poorest Cambodians.
Rio Tinto takes step towards transparency by publishing payments to governments
Rio Tinto, the global mining company, has taken an important step towards transparency by voluntarily disclosing, for the first time, the total tax and royalty payments that it makes to 13 of the countries where it operates, Publish What You Pay (PWYP) said today.
Helsinki Commission Energy Transparency video
U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission), and Co-Chairman Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL) have just released a video promoting transparency in the energy sector. The video includes U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the U.S.
Energy Security through Transparency Act of 2009
The “Energy Security through Transparency Act of 2009” was introduced into the US Congress on 23 September 2009 by Senators Richard Lugar (R-IN), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Russ Feingold (D-WI). If passed, the bill would require energy and mining companies to reveal how much they pay to foreign countries and the U.S.
Ghana's Big Test: Oil's Challenge to Democratic Development
Oxfam America and the Integrated Social Development Centre (Ghana) have released a new report, ‘Ghana’s Big Test: Oil’s Challenge to Democratic Development’. Ghana’s oil boom is happening in an era of increased attention to the problems of resource-rich states, and Ghana has important opportunities to learn from the positive and negative examples of others. The report makes extensive recommendations for the government, companies, donors, and others to support the transparent, accountable, and efficient development of Ghana’s oil wealth.
To find out more, click here.
Poor feels curse of black gold
This article was originally published on page 10 of Pretoria News on September 22, 2008
South African oil workers Dan Laarman and Robert Berrie have been released after a mercifully short period as hostages in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta.
They, and most of the world, were probably unaware of the devastating impact the oil industry has had on Africa.
In 2001 Washington called for a major diversification of US oil supplies away from the politically volatile Persian Gulf to “friendlier” sub-Saharan Africa.
The Coming Oil Boom in Ghana
Ghana discovers oil, and has an opportunity to use it for development—if it can avoid the usual traps of new oil wealth in developing countries.
