Resource information
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is sparking renewed interest and debate on issues such as transparency of government – company contracts, reporting on revenues from natural resources by company and by project, and reporting on revenue expenditure. An overarching concern is how to ensure that revenue transparency ultimately leads to better sustainable-development outcomes, including socio-economic development, poverty reduction and environmentally responsible extractive-industry practices.This discussion paper highlights key issues and new challenges related to EITI implementation, as well as broader issues of transparency and good governance in the extractive industries. The paper is based on a series of dialogues relating to transparency and good governance in the Caspian Sea Region:
Azerbaijan – the first country globally to become EITI Compliant
Kazakhstan – an EITI Candidate country seeking to become Compliant
and Turkmenistan – which is not a signatory of EITI but has expressed some interest in learning about the initiative
Recommendations from the Caspian dialogues include the following:
provide further strategic, administrative and technical support for disaggregated reporting of payments to governments (e.g. company-by- company and project-by-project)
identify current and potential ways in which the EITI process can contribute to accountability and sustainability in host countries and support relevant research on these linkages
develop guidance on good practice in sub-national reporting, and support pilot initiatives, such as reporting on public monitoring of community development spending
prioritise capacity building as an essential part of the EITI agenda, especially for local government and CSOs at the sub-national level
ensure clarity in new rules and procedures, to strengthen minimum requirements and avoid any ambiguity that allows too much flexibility in implementation
develop self-evaluation criteria and processes for EITI, such as progress ranking among member countries, based on competitive and motivational indicators
