Natural Resource Transparency (UK0094)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: United Kingdom Action Plan 2019-2021
Action Plan Cycle: 2019
Status: Active
Institutions
Lead Institution: Department for International Development
Support Institution(s): Other actors involved - government DFID, BEIS, HM Treasury, Financial Conduct Authority Other actors involved - CSOs, private sector, working groups, multilaterals, etc Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), Publish What You Pay UK (PWYP), Global Witness, Transparency International-UK, Oxfam GB and Open Contracting Partnership
Policy Areas
Access to Information, Anti-Corruption, E-Government, Extractive Industries, Fiscal Openness, Open Data, Publication of Budget/Fiscal InformationDescription
Objective
To work with others to enhance company disclosure regarding payments to
governments for the sale of publicly owned oil, gas and minerals and help to
establish and implement a common global reporting standard.
● To continue leading an international dialogue on increased transparency
around sales of publicly owned oil, gas and minerals.
● To undertake a scoping study to review what potential national action
the UK could take to enhance company disclosure around the world
regarding sales of publicly owned oil, gas and minerals. As part of this
review, we will consider a form of cross-departmental guidelines on
reporting these specific payments to governments.
● To maintain our commitment to the Extractive Industries Transparency
Initiative (EITI) and to implementation of the UK-transposed EU
Directives for mandatory reporting by companies.
● To provide clarity for UK-listed extractive companies, under the
Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules; transparency disclosures
are required to be in both open machine-readable data format and in
human-readable format suitable for dissemination to as wide a public as
possible.
What is the public problem that the commitment will address?
Corruption and fiscal mismanagement in the international natural resources
(oil, gas and mining) sector have long been a major concern for governments,
extractive companies, investors and civil society.
The UK and other countries have achieved good progress in promoting natural
resource transparency and accountability over the last 15 years, through both
voluntary reporting under the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
(EITI) and mandatory reporting rules now in force in the UK, across the EU, in
Canada and in Norway, and awaiting implementation in the United States.
However, significant gaps remain in the scope and coverage of extractive
companies’ disclosures of payments to governments and in the clarity and
accessibility of the disclosed data.
How will the commitment contribute to solve the public problem?
The largest payment stream missing from mandatory disclosure is payments to
governments for the sale of publicly owned oil, gas and minerals (commodity
trading), an area where corruption risk is acute.
Governments’ and state owned enterprises’ sales of the state’s production
share in the extractive industries are huge, typically US$ billions per year, and
vulnerable to large-scale abuse.
From 2011 to 2013, for example, the total value of sales by the national oil
companies of Africa’s top ten oil producers was equal to 56% of their
combined government revenues and more than ten times international aid to
these countries.
At company level, total payments to governments for oil and gas by Swiss
trader Trafigura amounted to US$21.2 billion in 2016, significantly more than
the US$15.1 billion disclosed by Royal Dutch Shell, Europe’s largest oil
company, as total payments for its oil and gas extraction around the world in
the same year. Swiss-headquartered company Glencore voluntarily revealed it
paid USD$12.6 billion to purchase crude oil from governments in 2017, almost
five times more than its tax and royalty disclosures under the Transparency
Directive. A further Swiss trader, Gunvor, has committed to make similar
disclosures. No UK oil major has made a similar commitment, and while Swiss
traders have revealed total payments above, they only disaggregate payments
to the country level in EITI implementing countries, where the minority of their
payments are made (Natural Resource Governance Institute figures).
Extractive company reporting under UK transparency rules currently suffers
from several deficiencies that clarification of the disclosures’ content and
format would ameliorate:
● Non-inclusion by at least seven companies of their share of joint venture
payments;
● Over-aggregation of projects by at least twelve companies;
● Non-identification of recipient government entities by at least 28
companies;
● Lack of volume data for, and over-aggregation of, in-kind payments by at
least four companies;
● Failure of a number of UK-listed extractive companies to report under
revised requirements for financial year 2017 in both open
machine-readable data and human-readable format.
The commitments will build on progress to date by continuing efforts to
explore, identify and (where practical and permissible) implement incremental
enhancement in extractives transparency.
Lead implementing organisation
Department for International Development (DFID)
Timeline
September 2018 - August 2021
OGP values
Public Accountability, Access to information
Other actors involved - government
DFID, BEIS, HM Treasury, Financial Conduct Authority
Other actors involved - CSOs, private sector, working groups, multilaterals, etc
Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), Publish What You Pay UK
(PWYP), Global Witness, Transparency International-UK, Oxfam GB and Open
Contracting Partnership
Verifiable and measurable milestones to fulfil the
commitment
Continue to lead an international dialogue on increased
transparency around sales of publicly owned oil, gas
and minerals.
The UK will undertake a scoping study to review what
potential national action we could take to enhance
company disclosure around the world regarding sales of
publicly owned oil, gas and minerals. As part of this
review, we will consider a form of cross-departmental
guidelines on reporting these specific payments to
governments in this sector.
Maintain our commitment to the Extractive Industries
Transparency Initiative (EITI) and to implementation of
the UK-transposed EU Directives for mandatory
reporting by companies.
In light of the BEIS Post Implementation Review of the
UK mandatory reporting regulations and the European
Commission consultation in respect of the Accounting
Directive chapter 10 (due end 2018), we will be open to
working with stakeholders and delivery partners in
exploring the scope for enhancing the effectiveness of
reporting requirements.
We will clarify for UK-listed extractive companies, under
the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules, that
transparency disclosures are required to be in both
open machine-readable data format and in
human-readable format suitable for dissemination to as
wide a public as possible.
Commitments
-
Grants Data
UK0090, 2019, Access to Information
-
Digital Charter
UK0091, 2019, Access to Information
-
Open Policy Making
UK0092, 2019, Open Regulations
-
Open Contracting Data
UK0093, 2019, Access to Information
-
Natural Resource Transparency
UK0094, 2019, Access to Information
-
Innovation in Democracy Programme
UK0095, 2019, Open Regulations
-
Sustainable Open Government
UK0096, 2019, Capacity Building
-
Local Transparency
UK0097, 2019, Access to Information
-
Beneficial Ownership – UK
UK0063, 2016, Anti-Corruption
-
Natural Resource Transparency
UK0064, 2016, Access to Information
-
Anti-Corruption Strategy
UK0065, 2016, Anti-Corruption
-
Anti-Corruption Innovation Hub
UK0066, 2016, Anti-Corruption
-
Open Contracting
UK0067, 2016, Access to Information
-
Grants Data
UK0068, 2016, Access to Information
-
Elections Data
UK0069, 2016, Access to Information
-
Revising Freedom of Information Act Code of Practice
UK0070, 2016, Access to Information
-
Identifying and Publishing Core Data Assets
UK0071, 2016, Access to Information
-
Involving Data Users in Shaping the Future of Open Data
UK0072, 2016, Access to Information
-
Better Use of Data Assets
UK0073, 2016, Access to Information
-
GOV.UK
UK0074, 2016, Access to Information
-
Ongoing Collaborative Approach to Open Government Reform
UK0075, 2016, E-Government
-
Open Government at All Levels
UK0076, 2016, Public Participation
-
Open Policy-Making and Public Engagement
UK0077, 2016, Capacity Building
-
Public Sector Innovation
UK0078, 2016, Access to Information
-
OCDS Implementation
UK0079, 2016, Access to Information
-
Open-Up Government
UK0080, 2016, Access to Information
-
Open Data Plan
UK0081, 2016, Access to Information
-
Open Data Service
UK0082, 2016, Access to Information
-
Statswales
UK0083, 2016, Access to Information
-
Data Research Centre Wales
UK0084, 2016, E-Government
-
Government Social Research Publication Protocol
UK0085, 2016, E-Government
-
Gov.Wales
UK0086, 2016, E-Government
-
Code of Practice in Supply Chains
UK0087, 2016, Labor
-
National Indicators for Wales
UK0088, 2016, Fiscal Openness
-
Well-Being Duty
UK0089, 2016, Anti-Corruption
-
National Information Infrastructure
UK0042, 2013,
-
NHS England Website and Network
UK0043, 2013, Health
-
Revised Local Authories Data Transparency Code
UK0044, 2013, Capacity Building
-
Transparent Social Investment Market
UK0045, 2013, Access to Information
-
Manage and Capture Digital Records
UK0046, 2013, Capacity Building
-
Cross-Government Anti-Corruption Plan
UK0047, 2013, Anti-Corruption
-
Company Beneficial Ownership Information
UK0048, 2013, Anti-Corruption
-
Access to Police Records
UK0049, 2013, Justice
-
Transparency in Construction
UK0050, 2013, Infrastructure & Transport
-
Legislative Openness
UK0051, 2013, Anti-Corruption
-
Whistleblowing
UK0052, 2013, Anti-Corruption
-
Open Contracting
UK0053, 2013, Anti-Corruption
-
Open Contracting Scotland
UK0054, 2013, Anti-Corruption
-
International Aid Transparency
UK0055, 2013, Access to Information
-
Health Care Data
UK0056, 2013, Access to Information
-
Open Policy Making
UK0057, 2013, E-Government
-
Sciencewise
UK0058, 2013, E-Government
-
Publication of Draft Legislation
UK0059, 2013, Legislative
-
OpenDataCommunities Programme
UK0060, 2013, Access to Information
-
PSI Re-Use Directive
UK0061, 2013, Access to Information
-
Extractive Transparency
UK0062, 2013, Access to Information
-
Ensuring a Clear Process to Support Reduction in Collection of ‘Unnecessary Data’
UK0024, 2011, E-Government
-
Developing Data.Gov.Uk and Identifying Other Digital Channels to Support Users
UK0025, 2011,
-
Evidence and Databases Behind Policy Statements
UK0026, 2011, E-Government
-
Data Underlying Surveys
UK0027, 2011, E-Government
-
Examining Ways for Improving the Use of Existing Published Data
UK0028, 2011, E-Government
-
Stimulate the Market for Innovative Use of Open Data
UK0029, 2011, Access to Information
-
Spend up to 5% of Budget Support on Accountability
UK0030, 2011, E-Government
-
Include the OGP Eligibility Criteria to Determine Readiness for UK Budget Support
UK0031, 2011, Aid
-
Publish Aid Information from All ODA Government Departments
UK0032, 2011, Aid
-
Use a Single Domain for Government Services
UK0033, 2011, E-Government
-
Mandate ‘Channel Shift’
UK0034, 2011, E-Government
-
Go Online for All Consultations
UK0035, 2011, E-Government
-
Develop Practical Guidelines on Departmental Access to Internet and Social Media
UK0036, 2011, Civic Space
-
Open Data and Application Interfaces in Ways That Encourage Businesses
UK0037, 2011, Access to Information
-
Create Cross-Government Standards on APIs
UK0038, 2011,
-
Establish Standardised Formats for User-Satisfaction Data
UK0039, 2011,
-
Provide Government Documents in Open Standard Format
UK0040, 2011, Access to Information
-
Implement Crowd-Sourcing and Engagement Processes
UK0041, 2011,
-
New Power to Secure Release of Valuable Datasets
UK0001, 2011,
-
New, Higher Cost Cap for FOI
UK0002, 2011, Access to Information
-
Meaningful Disincentives
UK0003, 2011,
-
Maximum Time Limits
UK0004, 2011, Access to Information
-
Altered Procurement Rules
UK0005, 2011,
-
Mandating Phased Introduction of ‘Public by Default’
UK0006, 2011, E-Government
-
Formalising Public Data Principles
UK0007, 2011,
-
Having in Place an Open Data Compliance Monitoring Process
UK0008, 2011,
-
Making Clear the Minimum Citizens Can Expect on Publication and Quality of Data
UK0009, 2011,
-
Ensuring a Line of Continuous Improvement for Public Service Providers
UK0010, 2011, Access to Information
-
Encourage Continuous Improvement
UK0011, 2011,
-
Setting Out How Citizens Can Challenge Where There Is Failure in the Process
UK0012, 2011, Public Participation
-
Establishing an Obligation to Consider and Act on User Feedback
UK0013, 2011, Public Participation
-
Making Clear That Licenses Must Cover Free, Commercial Re-Use
UK0014, 2011,
-
Merge Information Asset Registers…Into a Single Data Inventory
UK0015, 2011,
-
Set Consistent Expectations of the Appropriate Quality of Meta-Data
UK0016, 2011, Records Management
-
For Data Co-Ordinated Across Government, Set Definitions
UK0017, 2011, E-Government
-
Introducing Corporate Responsibility at Transparency Board Level
UK0018, 2011,
-
Strengthening and Broadening the Public Sector Transparency Board
UK0019, 2011, Anti-Corruption
-
Bringing the Sector Transparency Board Model to Other Parts of Public Sector
UK0020, 2011, Anti-Corruption
-
Reviewing the Existing Governance and Regulatory Model
UK0021, 2011,
-
Establishing a Framework for Public Service Providers Data Inventories
UK0022, 2011, Records Management
-
Developing a Clear Methodology to Support Intelligent Inventories
UK0023, 2011,