OSCE Misses Crucial Opportunity on Energy Security and Good Governance

The OSCE Summit that ended December 2 in Astana missed an opportunity to promote good governance of the oil, gas and mining industries by failing to endorse the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in its Summit Declaration, a global civil society transparency network said today.

“It is extremely disappointing that Kazakhstan, as the OSCE Chairman and Summit host, was unable to get political backing for the EITI, which the country is itself implementing to bring transparency and good governance into its massive energy and mining sectors,” said Radhika Sarin, International Coordinator of the Publish What You Pay network. “The EITI is based on the values supposedly shared by OSCE States, including respect for civil society, and is an example of effective and constructive cooperation between different stakeholders. This could have been an easy yet significant win for every OSCE member.”

The EITI is a global standard for revenue transparency in the oil, gas and mining sectors. The EITI is being implemented by 33 countries, including OSCE participating States Albania, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Norway, and the OSCE Asian Partners for Co-operation Afghanistan and Mongolia.

In the OSCE area, the EITI is an important contribution to assuring energy security and to improving the investment climate in the energy sector. Azerbaijan, which last year became EITI Compliant, had its credit rating upgraded recently to investment grade by the international credit rating agency Fitch Ratings.

The EITI has been endorsed and recognised by major international institutions, including the G20 and the United Nations. Seventeen supporting countries, 14 of which are OSCE participating States, back the EITI financially and politically.
 
All 27 members of the European Union (EU) had called for an EITI endorsement in Astana. Lithuania, an EU member, will hold the OSCE Chairmanship in 2011, which provides hope for an OSCE endorsement of the EITI next year.

“The regular publication of financial information about the oil, gas and mining industries is a widely accepted part of basic good governance,” said Sarin. “The transparency that EITI promotes helps countries maximize the benefits from their natural resource wealth – including security and stability.”

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Publish What You Pay (PWYP) is a global civil society network with over 600 member groups which work together for greater transparency and accountability in the oil, gas and mining industries.
www.publishwhatyoupay.org

CONTACT:
Joseph Williams, +44 7775 751 170
jwilliams@publishwhatyoupay.org

Signatories:

NGO Coalition of Georgia “For Transparency of Public finances”
Association “Azamattyk Kuryltaj”, Kazakhstan
“Oil Revenues Under Public Oversight” Coalition, Kazakhstan
EnergoTransparency Association, Ukrainian Coalition of NGOs for EITI implementation
Coalition of Azerbaijan NGOs for Improving Transparency in the Extractive Industries
Center for Development and Democratization of Institutions, Albania
Public Finance Monitoring Center, Azerbaijan
Economic Research Center, Azerbaijan
Public Association for Assistance to Free Economy, Azerbaijan
NGO Blago, Kazakhstan
NGO Megapolis, Kazakhstan
NGO Taraz Press-club, Kazakhstan
NGO Arlan, Kazakhstan
NGO Eco Mangystau, Kazakhstan
Institute of Local Government, Kazakhstan
Sange Research Center, Kazakhstan
NGO Education and Development, Kazakhstan
Center ecology-legal Initiative “Globus”, Kazakhstan
Committee for public control of state programmes at the local level, Kazakhstan
PA “Tax standards formation”, Kazakhstan
Oyu Tolgoi (OT) Watch, Mongolia
Human Development Center “Tree of Life”, Kyrgyz Republic
Taza Tabigat, Kyrgyz Republic
NGO “Foat”, Kyrgyz Republic
Nomos Center, Ukraine
DiXi Group, Ukraine
Center for Global Studies “Strategy XXI”, Ukraine
Q-club, Ukraine
UA Energy, Ukraine
Institute for Sustainable Development, Ukraine
Open Society Foundations
Revenue Watch Institute, United States
Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Norway