G8 endorses mandatory oil, gas and mining payment transparency

Today for the first time, the G8 endorsed mandatory disclosure of extractive industry payments to governments. The G8 Deauville Declaration welcomed “complementary efforts to increase revenue transparency, and commit[ted] to setting in place transparency laws and regulations or to promoting voluntary standards that require or encourage oil, gas, and mining companies to disclose the payments they make to governments.”

This endorsement was welcomed by leading African transparency advocates in Kinshasa at a historic strategy conference of African members of the Publish What You Pay coalition held in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“This support for oil and mining transparency by the G8 is timely and essential,” said Joe Williams of the global Publish What You Pay coalition, speaking from Kinshasa. “This also serves as a reminder that the U.S. must move quickly to issue final regulations for its own disclosure law, with no exceptions for companies.”

The G8 endorsement of oil and mining transparency follows the passing of the U.S. “publish what you pay” law in July 2010, which requires companies listed with U.S. stock exchanges to report their payments to the U.S. and foreign governments for oil and minerals. The law, which covers the majority of the largest internationally-operating oil companies as well as leading mining companies, was passed as part of the U.S. Dodd-Frank Financial Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

“The EU must now demonstrate its leadership in the G8 when it proposes disclosure rules later this year,” said Williams.

Prior to the G8 Summit, European Commission President Barroso stated the Commission’s intent to propose such laws as part of a joint effort with Africa to increase accountability saying, “The European Commission will table legislative proposals in October, which includes the obligation for companies to publish information about their activities.” This year both French President Sarkozy and British Chancellor of the Exchequer Osborne publically voiced their support for EU natural resource transparency rules. Barroso called on G8 countries to follow suit, saying “Again, I will call on our G8 colleagues to match this commitment.”

“We welcome and applaud the Commission’s commitment to promote accountability in Africa and elsewhere by adopting such laws,” said Jean-Claude Katende, National Coordinator of Publish What You Pay in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, “The information on payments to governments is essential for citizens to hold governments accountable for funding basic services such as education and healthcare, but we need additional information to determine if companies are paying their fair share. That is why it is crucial that EU disclosure laws surpass the minimum standard set by the U.S law last year.”

Katende was meeting fellow campaigners to discuss improving governance and accountability in Africa’s extractives sector. “These steps, coupled with progress on new national-level disclosure laws in places such as Ghana, Nigeria and Liberia, will provide a strong foundation of information that can be used for democratic debates on how to spend the billions of dollars received by African governments from natural resources each year.”

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Notes to editors:

G8 Deauville Declaration (see paragraph 62): http://www.g20-g8.com/g8-g20/g8/english/live/news/renewed-commitment-for…

Link to US law (section 1504): http://resources.revenuewatch.org/sites/default/files/Dodd-Frank%20bill_…

President Barroso statement: http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/11/387&fo…

President Sarkozy support: http://www.elysee.fr/president/les-actualites/communiques-de-presse/2011…

Britain backs ‘publish what you pay’ rule for oil and mining firms in Africa: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/feb/20/george-osborne-oil-mining…

Publish What You Pay (PWYP) is a global civil society network with over 600 member groups across more than 50 resource-rich countries like Nigeria, Angola, Cambodia and Kazakhstan which are united in their call for oil, gas and mining revenues to form the basis for development and improve the lives of ordinary citizens in resource-rich countries. From 24-27 May 2011, PWYP Members from across Africa held an Africa Regional Meeting: www.publishwhatyoupay.org/africa2011

What PWYP is asking for: To make governments more accountable for the revenues they receive, companies should be required to publish the payments they make on a country and project specific basis. In order to track whether countries are receiving what they are owed by companies, additional data is needed including production, profits, sales and intra-group trade on a country specific basis. Both would assist investors to assess risks. Both are needed to raise domestic revenues to combat poverty, fund basic services and build the trust in companies necessary for security of supply.

For more information contact:
Joseph Williams at Publish What You Pay:
jwilliams@publishwhatyoupay.org
+44 7775 751 170

Download the press release here