Blogs on the Politics of Extractive Industries

Politics Are Key: Unlocking the Unrealized Potential of Environmental Impact Assessment Processes by Leila Kazemi and Perrine Toledano, September 2022

Drawing on a chapter written by CCSI staff for a forthcoming UNEP publication on environmental impact assessment (EIA) processes and development corridors, this blog focuses on addressing the shortcomings of existing EIA work around extractives projects. The authors argue that the significant gaps between notions of best practice on EIA processes and widespread actual practice are in no small part due to the political realities of the contexts within which individual processes unfold. The authors argue that being more politically savvy is crucial to helping improve the anticipation, protection and management of environmental and social impacts of extractive industry projects.

Putting Anticorruption Reformers’ Needs Back in the Center of International Support: Windows of Opportunity, Politics and the Extractive Sector by Florencia Guerzovich, Soledad Gattoni, and Dave Algoso, December 2021

In a guest blog, Florencia Guerzovich, Soledad Gattoni, and Dave Algoso reflect on highlights and links between a recent CCSI meeting on supporting extractive industries reformers in government and the authors’ own work on How Global Actors Can Better Support Anticorruption Reformers. 

Asking the Right Questions: Aligning Political Incentives and Extractives Data by Beverley Hatcher-Mbu, October 2021

Beverley Hatcher-Mbu of Development Gateway explores some of the politics of data production and dissemination that can limit the accessibility and exhaustiveness of extractive industry data. The author also shares some experiences and ideas for understanding and addressing these to improve prospects of positive impact.

Politics Are Holding Back Implementation of Extractive Sector Transparency Rules by Amir Shafaie, Moses Kulaba, and Kaisa Toroskainen, September 2021

While the inventory of international and national commitments, laws, and regulations to advance transparency, participation, and accountability in the extractive industries has expanded significantly over the last few decades, implementation of many of these rules remains weak. Drawing on the Natural Resource Governance Institute’s work exploring these “implementation gaps” in Africa and beyond, Amir Shafaie, Moses Kulaba, and Kaisa Toroskainen discuss some of the key political factors driving these gaps between rules and practice and argue that closing them will require fresh thinking and deliberate action.

Rethinking Anti-Corruption: The Need for Politically Located Data by Pallavi Roy, July 2021

Traditional anti-corruption approaches can often fail to make meaningful progress in practice. Drawing on research conducted as part of SOAS’ Anti-Corruption Evidence program, Pallavi Roy, Research Director for the program, argues that existing anti-corruption efforts can stumble in part because they tend to be founded on problematic assumptions that do not hold in many countries and in part because they take a de-contextualized approach to transparency and data. In unpacking and exploring these issues, Dr. Roy offers ideas for reimagining both the goals of anti-corruption work and the strategies through which they are pursued, including thoughts on how data and transparency might be approached in more problem-driven and context-specific ways.

Citizen Participation, Politics and Power in the Extractive Sector – The Experience of a Global Civil Society Movement (David vs Goliath) by Elisa Peter & Olena Pavlenko, June 2021

Civil society actors working to demand good governance of extractive industries worldwide routinely run up against major imbalances of power with industry and states that can work against efforts to steer these sectors for the greater good. Members of the global Publish What You Pay (PWYP) network regularly experience the challenges of these long political odds firsthand. Drawing on these experiences, Elisa Peter, Executive Director, and Olena Pavlenko, Global Council Chair, discuss key political challenges PWYP and others face in trying to push for more accountability in the extractive industries, share some of the ways they attempt to address these challenges, and offer thoughts on confronting political obstacles to improve extractives governance moving forward.

Working Politically: The EITI and the Politics of Natural Resource Governance by Mark Robinson, May 2021

Successful EITI implementation hinges on a number of political factors. Government commitment, openness to reform and freedom of press all underpin the EITI’s mission of strengthening accountability and public understanding of natural resource management. In this blog, kicking off the series on The Politics of Transparency and Accountability: Views from the Field, EITI Executive Mark Robinson outlines how politics influence the EITI process, from the preliminary stages of applying for membership to the diffusion of data reported through the EITI. 

Political Will: What It Is, Why It Matters for Extractives and How on Earth Do You Find It? by Professor Heather Marquette, February 2020

As the Executive Session explores the ways in which political realities impact reforms in the extractive industries, the conceptual and practical shortcomings of “political will” as the traditional starting point become increasingly apparent. Executive Session participant, scholar at the University of Birmingham and advisor to UK DFID, Heather Marquette, weighs in on this issue and the importance of extractives governance practitioners unpacking the concept in order to more effectively understand and engage with political issues in their work.

Approaches to Working in Politically Informed Ways by CCSI, November 2019

As the Executive Session (ES) grapples with the challenge of how to better integrate political considerations into practice in the GEI field, we have come across valuable resources on working politically from this broader community. In this blog post we review the literature on various strands of political informed development approaches with the hope of catalyzing discussions and inspiring others to incorporate these insights into their work.  

The Challenges to Extractive Investment in Latin America: A South – South Conversation by Cynthia Sanborn & Weijun Xie, March 2019

Dr. Cynthia Sanborn, of the Universidad del Pacífico in Lima, Peru, recently interviewed Dr. Weijun Xie, Vice President of China Minmetals Rare Earth Co., Ltd, and a fellow member of the Executive Session on the Politics of Extractive Industries, about the rising prominence of Chinese companies in the world extractive industry. Their conversation addresses the larger political concerns for Chinese investors as they enter into an investment world historically dominated by European and American companies. It also addresses the on-the-ground political challenges of effective communication, transparency and consultation that affect all extractive industry investments, but particularly new and growing enterprises such as those coming out of China. 

To Design Good Climate Policy, Think Politics First and Often by Nathan Lobel, February 2019

Nathan Lobel makes the case for adding an analysis of political costs and benefits to economic ones when choosing climate policy. Juxtaposing the years-long push for a carbon tax to recent calls for a Green New Deal, Lobel points out the dangers of an overly technical analysis of policy options, one which pays little attention to how policies are likely to be implemented, received by the public and built upon in the future. 

Why Politics Matter for Technical Assistance, in Guyana and Beyond by Michael Jarvis, September 2018

Given the huge amount of attention attracted by the oil discoveries in Guyana recently, Michael Jarvis asks the question: how can development practitioners and policymakers better address the political implications of large oil investments? As events have already shown, the promise of such a large windfall quickly becomes part and parcel of local political questions: the upcoming elections, diplomatic ties with other countries and support for independent regulatory bodies. Jarvis argues that technical advice itself will not be enough. In order for Guyana to develop effective institutional capacity to capture and distribute oil resources, the development world, companies and policymakers must engage politically, working across government agencies, ensuring accountability, transparency and coordinating with diverse stakeholders.