News and resources
Explore our publications on a wide range of topics, to find the powerful facts, stories and approaches that underpin our work to make the extractive industry more open, accountable and participatory.
Mining and climate change: what is the impact of mining activity on climate change?
On the margins of COP21, as part of the “Climate Generations” space, civil society from Burkina Faso organised a session to address the impact of mining on climate change. The coordinator of Publish What You Pay (PWYP) in Burkina Faso, Jonas Hien, had made the trip with several coalition members to highlight this problem. Consistent […]
Climate change – a conversation we can’t just ignore
It used to be that climate change was a topic you could easily ignore. It was painted by some as the preserve of radical activists or anti-modernists who didn’t understand how things worked and perhaps even wanted to destroy the extractive industry. But such a view of the climate change debate would today be, at […]
40 years on from independence, Angola remains full of potential despite challenges
Angola, Africa’s second largest oil producer and third biggest economy, recently celebrated 40 years of independence on 11 November 2015. But there was very little to cheer about on the day, which was marked with lots of pessimism in the world media, as many commentators sought to commemorate this achievement by emphasising the country’s poor […]
Recent troubles at Niger’s only oil refinery in Zinder show importance of transparency
The recent troubles at Niger’s only oil refinery in Zinder have interesting parallels in neighbouring Chad, and show how important transparency in the extractives industry remains. In summer 2015, Niger’s Soraz refinery closed down for 45 days. The supply of locally produced fuel on the market dwindled and prices shot up. Officially the closure was […]
An Open Letter from Bantay Kita to Platts on Semirara Mining’s CSR Nomination
Bantay Kita – Publish What You Pay Philippines have issued an open letter to Platts stating that Semirara Mining doesn’t deserve CSR nomination. Semirara Mining and Power Corporation’s (SMPC) CSR project in Semirara Island has been nominated in a global award-giving body known as the energy sector’s Oscars. Bantay Kita – Publish What You Pay […]
Appetite for transparency in Australia
Since Publish What You Pay Australia was formed in 2011, Australia has had four Prime Ministers, including one who came back for a second (unsuccessful) go. For campaigners, the constantly changing political landscape has been challenging. However, there is much hope in civil society that stability is returning, and with it, an appetite for reform. […]
Reclaiming what’s theirs – informed consent and CSO participation in Uganda
In October over 60 families from Buseruka, a community displaced by oil extraction in West Uganda, walked 50 km to Hoima town to ask the government to give them what they had been promised since extraction began in their backyard. With them, they had a petition, signed by over 80 people, which included a number […]
Big data: ready, set, go!
PWYP has been working since its inception for mandatory revenue disclosures alongside the voluntary EITI. Thanks to PWYP’s collective efforts, we now have regulations in the EU, Norway and Canada, as well as laws underway in a number of countries that oblige listed and registered companies to publish their payments to governments for every country […]
In Good Company? Conversations around Transparency and Accountability in South Africa’s Extractive Sector
This is a collection of submitted articles around mining issues and produced by the Open Society Foundation for South Africa. It includes a chapter on the important role of coordinated and collective actions of a diverse coalition of organisations for greater impact and influence: The coalition is king! Perspectives on the Publish What You Pay […]
Human scars – the links between taxes and human rights
Taxes and human rights may not seem the most obvious bed fellows. Yet tax avoidance, incentives and other tax abuses, as well as poorly designed tax systems, deprive citizens of basic needs, in particular access to health care, water and sanitation services and education. This is no truer than in resource-rich developing countries where extractive […]
Following The Money: Malawi embarks onto the right path towards ensuring transparency and accountability in the extractives industry
Publish What You Pay Malawi Press Release: 30th October 2015 Background: In Malawi, like in many other resource-rich countries in the region, minerals, oil and gas have the potential to raise sustainable revenue for national development. But in order to fulfil this potential, fair deals, tax justice and robust agreements are paramount. It is, therefore, […]
Regional Fairshare on Gender Equality in the Extractive Industries: building on good practices
Between 13 and 15 October 2015 a regional event on Gender Equality in the Extractive Industries was organised at the United Nations, Headquarters, Gigiri, Nairobi, Kenya. The Conference was aimed at promoting the inclusion of women in the extractives industry, to include extraction of oil, gas and minerals; open discussion on various ways in which […]