EITI Board agrees 2023 EITI Standard
The EITI Board has agreed on revisions to the EITI Standard. The 2023 EITI Standard will be launched on 13 June, at the EITI’s upcoming Global Conference in Dakar, Senegal.
Updated requirements for the 2023 EITI Standard have been agreed by representatives of countries, companies, and civil society organisations participating in the EITI Board. The 2023 EITI Standard strengthens EITI disclosures and governance requirements to improve understanding of the impact of the energy transition, address corruption risks, promote gender equity and strengthen revenue collection.
“The global shift towards a low-carbon economy will have a range of impacts on the citizens of resource-rich countries,” said Helen Clark, EITI Board Chair. “A strength of the EITI has been to adapt to current and evolving challenges. Those associated with the energy transition are now reflected in the EITI Standard. I commend governments, companies, and civil society on working together to achieve consensus on these revisions. I look forward to presenting the 2023 EITI Standard to stakeholders at the EITI Global Conference in June.”
Since it was first introduced in 2013, the EITI Standard has evolved through innovations at a country and company level. The process for refining the 2023 EITI Standard was underpinned by wide consultation. It drew on lessons learned in the past ten years of implementation to identify relevant and timely disclosures that will inform policy and public debate.
The most recent revisions strengthen and clarify the EITI Requirements. They identify important new areas for disclosure, including on commitments, policies and plans for the energy transition; capital and operating expenditure costs; carbon pricing mechanisms; carbon taxes; greenhouse gas emissions; and subsidies. They require countries to document the rationale for any fast-tracking of extractive licenses, thereby strengthening safeguards in the allocation of those licenses as projected demand for minerals required for the energy transition increases.
Anti-corruption provisions have now been explicitly integrated into the objectives of the EITI Requirements. All companies supporting the EITI and participating in EITI reporting, including state-owned enterprises, are now expected to disclose their anti-corruption policies. Moreover, the EITI Standard encourages a minimum ownership threshold for disclosing the identities of individuals who own or control companies, and clarifies beneficial ownership disclosures for state-owned enterprises. Such disclosures are important for identifying conflicts of interest and the participation of politically engaged persons in the extractive sector.
Revisions also promote the participation of women in the extractive sector by extending gender-disaggregated disclosures to employment and benefits from the sector. They extend disclosures related to environmental and social monitoring and impact as well as community consultations.
The revised EITI Standard paves the way to developing a leaner approach to reporting revenues and payments to manage reporting costs, drawing on lessons learned from adapting EITI reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic.