During the week of 22 September 2025, States once again met in Vienna under Working Group III (WGIII)...
The global transition to renewable energy systems will be mineral intensive and, under the current linear economy conditions,...
A balanced, multi-disciplinary negotiation team helps ensure fair outcomes and alignment with national development goals.
The decision of who will sit at the negotiation table and will represent the different parties is of vital importance to the outcome of the negotiations and the sustainability of the investment. However, there is no one one-size fits all formula as to who should represent the government at the negotiations table. The structure will depend on the governance structure of a country, the way past negotiations were structured and the political will for a particular structure.
It is in the host government’s interest to assemble a multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral negotiation team that is composed in a professionally balanced manner of relevant experts (legal, commercial, fiscal, technical) as well as of some of the government/ ministerial representatives from the sectors implicated by the investment. These could include, for example, representatives from the ministries of finance, justice, labor and employment, public works, national planning, indigenous peoples, the environment and water, etc. That way, the negotiation is more likely to be equitably balanced and lead to a fair outcome, while at the same time ensuring that the investment is aligned with national and sector development goals.
Mining Contracts – How to Read and Understand Them was produced by a diverse group of 14 experts from Africa, Asia, North America, South America, and Europe to help policy makers, civil society, citizens, and the media understand the often complex and opaque terms of mining contracts. This guide explains in layman’s terms the principal features of a contract, compares different approaches to key issues, and supplies the context and background necessary for non-specialists to understand how contracts are negotiated and what they say.
Available in French and English.
Oil Contracts – How to Read and Understand Them is the sister-guide to the Mining Contracts – How to Read and Understand Them resource. It is a plain-language guide for non-specialists on the often complex and opaque terms of oil contracts. It was produced to help people understand the terms governments negotiate with oil companies, including revenue sharing, operations, and contract pitfalls.
CCSI, together with the World Bank and Natural Resource Governance Institute, developed ResourceContracts.org, an online, searchable and user-friendly database of publicly available oil, gas and mining contracts from around the world. Users can search contracts by country, by natural resource, or by type of contract; view summaries of key social, environmental, fiscal, and operational provisions; and download full contracts.
CCSI’s OpenLandContracts.org is an online, searchable and user-friendly database of publicly available contracts for commercial agriculture, forestry and renewable energy projects from around the world. Users of the website can search contracts and associated documents by different categories; view summaries of key social, human rights, environmental, fiscal, and operational provisions; compare certain provisions across contracts; and download full PDF versions of documents.
PetroleumEcon.com offers an NPV (Net Present Value) model designed to analyze concessionary arrangements in upstream petroleum projects. It implements discounted cash flow techniques to evaluate economic attractiveness under royalty/tax systems or production sharing agreements, supporting sensitivity analysis, scenario comparisons, and Monte Carlo simulations for reserves and price uncertainty.
The Model Mining Development Agreement is a template created by the International Bar Association’s Mining Law Committee that can be used by mining companies and host governments for mining projects. It provides a balanced, 200+ page draft contract for mining projects in developing countries, with sample clauses drawn from real agreements to support negotiations between governments and companies while prioritizing sustainable development.
Available in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese, and Russian.
This report assesses how artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) contributes to or undermines various Sustainable Development Goals. It outlines both the developmental benefits and the social and environmental risks of ASM. Recommendations include pathways to formalization and support for ASM communities. For negotiators, it highlights entry points for including ASM integration or regulation measures in regional resource agreements.
This CCSI piece explores how reform-minded leaders can overcome barriers to improve extractive sector governance. It emphasizes coalition-building, timing, and informed strategies to enable institutional change. Lessons are drawn from comparative case studies.
