Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

Background

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative is a natural resource advocacy group focused particularly on oil, gas, and mining industries. Formed in 2003 in London, it claims to have 55 countries that have agreed to uphold its principles and standards of reporting, which are largely centered around how governments should report on the management of their natural resources. The group recommends that countries publish their own data from their own sources, as opposed to relying on disclosures through third-party reports.  ¹

For a country to join the initiative, it must demonstrate government, company, and civil society engagement, as well as establish a multi-stakeholder group. Joining countries are also required to make an annual payment of $10,000 to EITI for support fees.  ²

EITI also advocates for more gender inclusivity, suggesting that participating multi-stakeholder groups issue a statement explaining what potential barriers and challenges exist to gender equality and what steps were taken to address them when elections to multi-stakeholder groups result in having less than 40 percent representation by women.  ³

Participating Countries

As of October 2025, countries that the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative claim as participating in its mission include Albania, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Mongolia, Mozambique, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Suriname, São Tomé and Príncipe, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and Zambia. While listed as participants, some of these countries are noted by EITI for being suspended due to lack of engagement.  ⁴

As of October 2025, countries that have previously participated but have since withdrawn from EITI include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Equatorial Guinea, Honduras, Myanmar, the Solomon Islands, the United States, and Yemen.  ⁴

Activities

In 2022, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative launched the “Engaging communities in a just transition” initiative, which was funded in conjunction with the Ford Foundation. Four communities based in Colombia, Ghana, and Indonesia participated in the initiative, which studied how these communities were impacted by shifts and new developments in the energy sector.  ^{5  6}

Funding

As of 2024, the Ford Foundation has given a total of $700,000 to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative; the majority of the funds were earmarked for energy transition initiatives.  ⁷

In 2024, the BHP Foundation gave $926,909 to EITI.  ⁸

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has given $1.3 million to EITI in two grants, awarded between 2017 and 2020.  ⁹

People

Helen Clark is the chair of the board of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. Clark was the Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008 and was a member of the New Zealand Parliament for the Labour Party from 1981 to 2009. Clark has also been an administrator for the United Nations Development Programme and chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group and has taught in

the Political Studies Department at the University of Auckland.  ¹⁰