Today, on the eve of the G8 Summit, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Canada will establish new mandatory reporting standards for Canadian oil, gas and mining companies. The announcement comes on the heels of the European Parliament’s vote for strong new disclosure requirements for extractive companies.
“We commend Canada, along with the EU, for recognizing the importance transparency plays in the governance of natural resources in both developing and developed nations,” said Daniel Kaufmann, President of Revenue Watch. “RWI has collaborated closely with the Canadian mining industry to build support for these measures. We look forward to collaborating with the federal and provincial governments to implement these rules soon.”
Transparency is a critical tool for ensuring the more than one billion people in resource-rich countries reap the full benefits of their natural resources. Mandatory reporting standards require oil, gas and mining companies to publish the amounts they pay to governments, disclosures that give citizens the information they need to hold their governments accountable for the use of resource revenues.
Revenue Watch and its partners have worked for nearly a decade to advocate the adoption of mandatory reporting standards. In the U.S., disclosure requirements were passed in 2010 under section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which compels publicly listed companies to report on a country-by-country and per project basis. The EU law passed this morning goes even further, applying to large, private companies and forestry.
The thorough and timely implementation of PM Harper’s commitment will ensure Canada’s major mining markets meet international reporting standards. The majority of global mining transactions take place on Canadian stock exchanges—which host approximately 60 percent of the world’s public companies, including majors like Barrick Gold and Kinross, as well as thousands of smaller operators. Canadian oil, gas and mining companies are active in over 100 countries, including developing nations such as Mongolia, where over 30 percent of government revenue comes from copper mining.
In 2012, recognizing the scale of Canada’s major role in the global extractive sector, Revenue Watch partnered with the Canadian mining industry and Publish What You Pay Canada to advance transparency. Following extensive discussion and consultation with companies, investors, government and civil society across the country and internationally, this partnership will publicly release a set of reporting recommendations for Canadian companies this week.
Source: Revenue Watch promotes the transparent and accountable management of oil, gas and mineral resources for the public good. www.revenuewatch.org | @revenuewatch | www.facebook/revwatch
Contact: Carolyn Bielfeldt, Communications
No comments:
Post a Comment