2021 Year-End Thoughts from NRGI President and CEO Suneeta Kaimal
Dear friends and partners,
2021 dawned with a sense of optimism. Promising coronavirus vaccines were becoming available, and leadership change in the U.S. signalled renewed prospects for the collective action we need to meet global challenges. At NRGI, the start of the year brought a sense of forward momentum with my appointment as president and CEO, and clarity on our ambitious, targeted change agenda.
Yet, our sense of promise was quickly tested. The Delta variant surged, pushing us to further innovate around ways to achieve impact in a world gone virtual. We pivoted to navigate political turmoil in some of our focus countries like Guinea, Myanmar, Peru, Tunisia and Uganda amid a decline of trust in government, the persistence of vaccine inequity and continued corruption. We sought to understand and address worsening poverty and inequality, faltering democracy, deepening climate crisis, and emerging threats to civic space. And now, we brace for the impact of Omicron.
Like viruses, resource governance challenges mutate. And like our response to virus variants, our success now and in the future requires vigilance and persistence. We must anticipate trends where feasible and adapt to the unexpected. Listening and learning from hundreds of our partners, board members, advisory council members and funders, we were inspired to revise the course of NRGI with greater focus on the energy transition, equity and inclusive dialogue. And in parallel we are staying the governance course, armed with evidence, including our 2021 Resource Governance Index; convening informed, open dialogue; and focusing on those most impacted.
In doing so, we managed the uncertainty of 2021 and made progress toward a brighter 2022:
Using NRGI’s new anticorruption tool, the Mongolia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative confronted conflicts of interests in the mining sector—issues at the heart of recent corruption-related controversies in the country. The diagnostic process helped Mongolia EITI members identify specific solutions, such as strengthening collaboration with the anticorruption commission to verify the asset and income declarations of senior extractive sector officials.
In Ghana, we worked alongside civil society partners to make recommendations to the government regarding the proposed purchase of offshore oil assets from Aker Energy by state company GNPC. The coalition’s goal was to ensure that officials, mindful of Ghana’s significant debt burden, struck a good and fair deal that would bring benefits to citizens. The government has since reduced its valuation of the assets from USD 1.65 billion to 1.1 billion and plans to further evaluate the deal before taking a final decision.
In Mexico, the executive proposed a controversial constitutional amendment on concessions for lithium and other strategic minerals. NRGI partnered with researchers and public officials from Mexico and across Latin America to convene public dialogue and share a comparative analysis of experiences in other countries. We also detailed how new approaches to critical mineral extraction could usher in improvements to mining governance in Mexico.
We opened a new program in Senegal, supporting policy-makers and civil society actors to advance legal and regulatory reforms in both the mining and oil and gas sectors. NRGI is contributing to ongoing debates, working in partnership with state-owned companies in the improvement of their transparency and accountability practices, and supporting civil society organizations and oversight actors who monitor the extractive sector.
We raised the importance of governance and equity at COP26, flagging the “risky bets” that national oil companies are making as the energy transition gains momentum. Our findings that USD 400 billion in planned investments in fossil fuel extraction won’t break even if Paris agreement goals are to be met informed the benchmark Production Gap Report and guidance for climate activists. This year we also supported policy-makers and civil society to interrogate the impact of national oil company spending plans on economic sustainability in Ghana, Mexico, Latin America and the Middle East and North Africa.
Earlier this month, following years of engagement by NRGI and our partners Publish What You Pay and Oxfam America, the International Council on Mining and Metals announced a new position on contract transparency requiring its 28 member companies to disclose contracts signed with governments. This transparency requirement will apply to members representing about a third of the global mining industry, making it an important tool for increasing accountability around critical minerals.
Building on these achievements, our tremendously talented staff and freshly appointed leadership—chief program officer Patrick Heller, senior director for programs Ana Carolina Gonzalez, managing director Liz McGrath and chief of staff Aye Kyithar Swe—approach 2022 strong and resolute. More than ever, we have the tools to manage the variants of resource governance challenges that lie ahead. Sustained by our committed funders, guided by our esteemed board and boosted by our partners in countries around the world, together we are ready to face the future.
With warm regards and best wishes,
Suneeta Kaimal
President and CEO