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7 Feb 2022

Global: Oxfam America calls on EITI members to support meaningful Company Expectations & consequences for non-compliance

An excavator works at an opencast manganese ore mine in Ukraine

On January 10, 2022, Oxfam America sent an open letter to board members and US-listed supporting companies of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) requesting their responses to questions about EITI's Company Expectations. In the letter, Oxfam highlights gaps in the existing Company Expectations and notes that EITI member companies can currently enjoy the benefits of membership while flaunting, and in some cases lobbying against, core transparency elements of the EITI.

Oxfam invited 29 EITI Supporting Companies to respond to the following questions:

  1. What minimum threshold of compliance with Company Expectations should be required for a company to be listed with the distinction of being an EITI Supporting Company?
  2. Does your company agree that Expectation 1 should mandate meaningful support, like requiring that EITI Supporting Companies will voice their support for – and not undermine by lobbying against – laws, regulations, and policies that promote transparency efforts aligned with the EITI Standard in the jurisdictions they operate in and globally?
  3. Does your company agree that EITI Supporting Companies should make project-level payments-to-government disclosures, in line with the EITI Standard, in all jurisdictions where they operate, as outlined in Company Expectations 2 and 3?
  4. Does your company believe that companies should be excused for not complying with Expectation 2 if they provide an explanation for their non-compliance? Has your company ever encountered a law that prevented you from complying with Expectation 2?
  5. What consequences should exist for EITI Supporting Companies that do not comply with the Company Expectations?
  6. Are EITI Board Members that do not comply with the Company Expectations able to adequately represent the interests of your company, the Supporting Company constituency, and the Initiative as a whole?

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Alcoa, AngloAmerican, AngloGold Ashanti, ArcelorMittal, Barrick Gold, BHP, BP, Centerra Gold, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Eni, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Freeport-McMoRan, Gold Fields, Hess, Kinross Gold, Kosmos Energy, Newmont, Norwegian Bank Investment Management, Repsol, Rio Tinto, Shell, Sibanye-Stillwater, Southern Copper, Teck Resources, Trafigura, TotalEnergies, and Vale to respond to the concerns outlined in Oxfam's open letter. A total of 22 companies responded, including 5 that sent their responses directly to Oxfam.

Their responses or non-responses are recorded below.

Company Responses

Rio Tinto View Response
Sibanye-Stillwater View Response
Repsol View Response
Trafigura Beheer View Response
Southern Copper (part of Grupo México) View Response
Chevron View Response
Shell plc View Response
Kosmos Energy View Response
Freeport-McMoRan View Response
Equinor (formerly Statoil) View Response
Kinross Gold

No Response

Anglo American View Response
AngloGold Ashanti View Response
ArcelorMittal

No Response

Centerra Gold

No Response

ConocoPhillips

No Response

ExxonMobil

No Response

Gold Fields

No Response

Hess Corporation

No Response

Newmont (formerly Newmont Goldcorp) View Response
Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) View Response
Teck Resources View Response
TotalEnergies (formerly Total) View Response
Barrick Gold View Response

Timeline