EITI (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative)

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is a global coalition of governments, companies and civil society working together to improve openness and accountable management of revenues from natural resources. Natural resources, such as oil, gas, metals and minerals, belong to a country’s citizens. Extraction of these resources can lead to economic growth and social development. However, when poorly managed it has too often lead to corruption and even conflict. More openness around how a country manages its natural resource wealth is necessary to ensure that these resources can benefit all citizens. The EITI Standard Countries implement the EITI Standard to ensure full disclosure of taxes and other payments made by producing oil, gas and mining companies. These payments are disclosed in an annual EITI Report. This report allows citizens to see for themselves how much their government is receiving from their country’s natural resources. Transparency can only lead to accountability if there is understanding of what the figures mean and public debate about how the country’s resource wealth should be managed. Therefore, the EITI Standard requires that EITI Reports are comprehensible, actively promoted and contribute to the public debate.