United Kingdom

On Tuesday Tearfund, a Christian relief and development agency, handed in 10,000 postcards to the UK Chancellor from supporters calling for the UK Government to tackle corruption through Publish What You Pay legislation in the EU.

PWYP members in Europe have written to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which regulates US stock exchanges, and notified the body that the European Commission is developing counterpart legislation in Europe. The need for extractive industry transparency rules in the EU has been backed by the British and French governments which have both publicly stated their support this year following the passing in the United States of the Dodd-Frank Act.

Activists Deliver Letter to David Cameron from 200 Ugandans

Ugandan activists have delivered a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron, calling on the UK Government to ‘end the resource curse’ by supporting greater transparency in the oil industry. The letter was organised by the Publish What You Pay Coalition and signed by over 200 civil society activists from Uganda.

The Publish What You Pay coalition strongly welcomes the announcement by the UK Government that it will push for the implementation of oil, gas and mining transparency laws in the EU. If introduced, such laws would require that companies listed in the EU publish what they pay to governments for the extraction of minerals around the world. This will improve revenue transparency, helping to eradicate the corruption that has blighted some mineral rich states and improve the lives of millions of people in the developing world.

I am Chairperson of Publish What You Pay Uganda and work for an organisation called Global Rights Alert. In Uganda we are striving to ensure that the recently discovered oil in our country helps us fight poverty, disease and develop economically.

The campaign for PWYP stock exchange listing requirements is gathering pace in the UK. Last week the founder of the Open Society Foundations, George Soros, spoke to a senior gathering of UK MPs and Peers at a reception in the House of Commons about the importance of oil and mining transparency. Mr Soros has been a key supporter of the Publish What You Pay coalition since 2002.