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Enhancing Transparency in Governance: Lessons from Global Resource Management

This analysis by Stacy D. VanDeveer delves into the complexities of governance and the transparency challenges in resource-rich countries. It addresses the interplay between ecological degradation, human exploitation, poverty, and conflict, emphasizing that most scarcity issues are governance-related rather than purely physical. An examination of various governance experiments, including state and non-state initiatives, provides insights into effective strategies for accountability and public involvement. With examples of transparency initiatives and ongoing governance experiments, this work highlights the importance of cooperation and innovation in addressing global consumption politics.

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Enhancing Transparency in Governance: Lessons from Global Resource Management

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  1. Transparency in Context & in Development: Lessons Governance Experiments Stacy D. VanDeveer Fellow, Transatlantic Academy & Associate Professor, University of New Hampshire

  2. Making Sense of the Politics of Global Consumption • Overlapping Governance Challenges at multiple levels: • Unprecedented ecological change/degradation, • ongoing human exploitation, series of relationships to violent conflict • Poverty alleviation lagging • Growing issue-specific global activism • Resource Curse dynamics, perceptions and debates • EX: over 50 “resource rich” countries, containing 2/3 of global poor

  3. “Scarcity”: Means what? For whom? • Has multiple dimensions political debate • Physical/geological • Economic (value chain, price volatility, etc.) • Political • Strategic/security/defense • social ramifications of price volatility • Civil local/regional violence (threat multiplier) • Equity/humanitarian (poverty alleviation, inequality, labor/human rights, & host of social justice issues) • MOST resources are not physically scarce/rare • Most scarcity is governance/institutionally related

  4. Extractive Industries/Raw Materials Governance Challenges: A Daunting List Supply security & reliability Transparency (financial, contractual, informational, geographic, price, procedural, govt decisions…) Human Rights & Gender inequality Labor rights & Safety Community Poverty Environmental/Ecological degradation Relationships to Violent Conflict (object, cause, funder, instrument of oppression…) Little systematic demand side management or broad based recycling & reuse Scale – how much can ecosystems and societies bear?

  5. Combatting “Curses” • Transparency, Accountability and Public Involvement • Improved Fiscal and Monetary Policy • Natural Resource Funds/Sovereign Wealth Funds • Economic Diversification • Direct Distribution • Privatization • Draws on Weinthal & Luong work

  6. Governance Experiments: Non-State and State Led State Led National/EU Regulation Effective International Standards Subsidies Adjustment Externalities Pricing/taxation Building Governing Capacities Non-State Led • Awareness & Education • Certification Systems and Labeling Schemes • Corporate/sectoral governance initiatives • Ethical consumption /purchasing movements • Corporate Social Responsibility

  7. Why Leaders, Experimentation and Innovation Matter (Sometimes) • Policy experiments: any level of scale -- public, private & Civil society sectors • Networks, Pathways, the Diffusion of Political Institutions & Theoretical Pluralism (w/H. Selin) • Strategic demonstration • Market expansion & pricing • Policy diffusion and learning • Norm creation & promulgation • PoliSci 101: Institutions Develop Constituencies

  8. Ongoing Experiments: Some Examples • Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) • One of MANY transparency initiatives • Kimberley Process (Diamonds) • Commodity specific public awareness campaigns (coltan, gold, silver, gemstones) • slogans, press coverage, boycotts, consumer exposure … • ICMM – Int’l Council on Mining and Materials • Natural Resource Charter • Dodd-Frank • EU Transparency Directive efforts • UNEP International Resource Panel

  9. Transparency: developments, limits and context • EITI Development (2002…. 2010- ) • Expanding participation, standards and procedures review, growing set stakeholder reform ideas, World Bank push • Transparency improved, acct & public part. likely not • Dodd-Frank (2010- ) • Broad disclosure requirements for public companies • Specific push on “conflict minerals” • EU Transparency Directive (2011 - ) • Explicit EITI link, mandatory reporting, adding forestry • ICMM (2001 - ) • Lots of learning, little evidence/assessment of global impact

  10. Levers & Lessons to Explore • Leveraging market access & size (US, EU & China) • Information provision & Transparency • Financial flows (public-private) • Public sector spending, accounting, management • Production and processing info • Capacity Building: public involvement, civil society, public sector, small/medium businesses • Standardization – products, processes • Networked activists across borders (PWYP, Global Witness) • Baptists & bootlegger coalitions (Transatlantic transparency pol) • National/state emulation & learning • DEBATING the ROLE OF THE STATE

  11. THANK YOU Svandeveer@transatlanticacademy.org

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