EITI Announcements

The 11 February Norway was accepted as an EITI Candidate, and became the 25^th EITI implementing country. Norway, the world's third largest oil exporter, is the first OECD country to implement the EITI. When applying for candidate status Terje Riis-Johansen, Norwegian Minister of Oil and Energy, said "By now moving from supporting the EITI to also implementing it, we hope to contribute towards the EITI becoming the globally recognised transparency standard for the extractive industry."

The EITI's stakeholders are invited to the Constitution Meeting of the EITI Association. The meeting will take place at the Ritz-Carlton, Doha, 16 February 2009 at 15:30. The purpose of the meeting is to constitute the EITI Association, a non-profit association organised under Norwegian law.
[5 Feb: Documents updated]

Representatives from 21 Candidate Countries met in Oslo from 7-9 October for the first EITI National Coordinator Meeting. The meeting was organised in response to strong demand from implementers for information exchange and peer learning regarding EITI implementation. In particular, there is a pressing need to accelerate activities with respect to the EITI’s Validation requirements.

EITI Chairman, Dr Peter Eigen met with the Iraqi Deputy Prime, Dr Barham Ahmad Salih, and the Minister for Oil, Hussain Ibrahim Saleh al-Shahristani, in Baghdad on 6 October. The Ministers reaffirmed their strong commitment to the initiative and their intent to progress towards revenue transparency by publishing monthly reports of their oil revenue.

The US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held 24 September a hearing on Resource Curse or Blessing? Africa's Management of its Extractive Industries. In his opening statement Senator Feingold said "The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative is one of several international efforts to fight the resource curse, and the report urges the administration to give the EITI more vigorous support."

PRESS RELEASE

The Swedish Government announced today their support of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI). State Secretary Mr Gunnar Wieslander announced the Swedish support of the initiative at a meeting with Dr Peter Eigen, Chairman of the EITI, and Swedish companies that operate in the extractive sector.

File: 

2008-09-30 Press Release - Sweden to get behind the EITI.pdf

The African Union Commission and the European Commission launched an Africa-EU Energy Partnership on 8 September. The Joint Statement on the Energy Partnership states that transparency is necessary to improve private investment in the energy sector. The EC and the AUC therefore calls for more countries to become members of the EITI, and to develop transparency guidelines for companies in the extractive sector.

The UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution on the subject of 'Strengthening Transparency in Industries'. The resolution gives strong backing to the EITI by noting EITI implementing countries' efforts to strengthen transparency.

[UPDATED with link to the resolution.]

Abuja, Nigeria, 12 September 2008 -- African civil society activists met the European Commissioner for Energy, Andris Piebalgs, and urged him to ensure that openness and accountability to Africa’s people are at the heart of Europe’s growing energy relationship with Africa.

Read more in the Press Release from Publish What You Pay.

At an event in London hosted by BP, Peter Eigen, Chair of the EITI and founder of Transparency International, launched a new guide for how companies can play an integral role in helping create transparency in the extractive sector. The new EITI Business Guide, a joint publication of the EITI and the International Business Leaders Forum, outlines how business can support the implementation of the EITI.