A year ago, over 150 countries signed the Paris Agreement to limiting global warming. Although the EITI has no requirements directly related to climate change, there are some links between the two.
Every year on Earth Day – 22 April – we are reminded of the dire state of our planet. A ray of hope emerged last year on this very day as the US, China and over 150 countries more signed the landmark Paris Agreement for the protection of the climate.
The requirements of the EITI – the global standard for the good governance of oil, gas and mineral resources – do not directly address the environment and climate change.
And to be clear, extracting non-renewable resources is an inherently unsustainable endeavour. Oil, gas and minerals are limited resources. Unlike forests, fish stock or renewable energy, they do not renew themselves. Once they’re extracted and used, they’re gone. Countries endowed with oil, gas and minerals have a limited time to harness their potential.
Still, there are some links between the good governance of extractives and the environment:
Good governance of resources can contribute to cleaner energy for all
Globally, around 1.1 billion people still do not have access to electricity. About 2.9 billion use solid fuels – wood, charcoal, coal, and dung – for cooking and heating. Many of them are poor. Improved governance of resources, better management and less corruption can contribute not only towards economic development, but also lead to using less highly polluting sources of energy because they can be substituted by cleaner sources.
Good governance can contribute to less waste
Fuel subsidies continue to be a major waste of resources and thus lead to more carbon emissions. We have seen in Nigeria how NEITI has called for the removal of fuel subsidies.
Information, including that required by the EITI, contributes to building awareness of these problems
By demonstrating the income generated from extractives, at times enormous, but also highly fluctuating, the EITI can help drive policy making towards improved use of these resources.
A review undertaken by the International Secretariat shows that at least 15 implementing countries have done some form of reporting on environmental issues, in response to local concerns. These include coverage of environmental taxes and their uses. Additional information on environmental policy, management and compliance has in some instances also been included in EITI reporting to complement required disclosures and inform public discussion of a country’s governance of natural resource revenues.
There is an increasing demand for environmental taxes and environmental costs to be included in reports. Research suggests that pricing carbon and other negative externalities is an effective way to reduce pollution and curtail global warming.
Everything matters
I do not want to overplay the importance of the EITI as a solution to environmental protection and climate change. But everything matters and alongside others efforts to inform public debate, it can be powerful.
There are parallels to our contributions to other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): the goals cover issues, such as poverty eradication, good governance, improving tax systems, fighting corruption and developing accountable and transparent institutions. These are all areas in which the EITI has much to offer.
Earth Day might just be the right day to remind ourselves, and our implementing countries, that the work of the EITI can also contribute in using our finite resources more wisely to the benefit of citizens and the planet.
Image: NASA/GSFC. NASA is advancing new tools like the supercomputer model that created this simulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to better understand what will happen to Earth’s climate if the land and ocean can no longer absorb nearly half of all climate-warming CO2 emissions.
