The extractive industries provide substantial government revenues in many low-income and middle-income countries, but efforts to diversify economies have been disappointing. Moreover, there are major revenue shortfalls due to ineffective regulation, under-reporting by producers, poor transparency, and badly designed tax systems. Incentives are still badly titled towards extraction, and away from protecting renewable resources such as biodiversity, forests and water as well as ending greenhouse gas emissions. The COVID-19 pandemic has also caused an unprecedented shock that has exposed the vulnerability of economies dependent on extractive revenues, and the project examines how to manage the revenue risks.
This project builds on the Extractives for Development (E4D) project undertaken by UNU-WIDER from 2014-18. The new project aims to further enhance the links established to senior policy makers, international organizations and the oil, gas and mining industries themselves to share lessons across regions, and to identify opportunities as well as risks (and ways of mitigating those risks), and to chart the future of the global extractives industries and the consequences for both low and middle income countries.
The project will deliver research papers, to be published in the WIDER working paper series. The first set of papers focus on identifying critical issues for the sector, in light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as climate change. A monograph will be finalized in 2020, for publication in 2021, building on a book published by Oxford University Press from the previous UNU-WIDER project.
All papers, events, briefs, blog posts, and opportunities to engage relating to the project will be available on this webpage.
The research will address SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. In addition, it will support the attainment of SDG 7 (Affordable and clean energy), SDG 12 (Responsible consumption and production, as well as SDG 13 (Climate action).
Follow the conversation at #Extractives4Dev
This project is part of the Domestic Revenue Mobilization programme.
Focal point: Tony Addison
Project support: Jutta Stenholm
Communications: Anna Toppari
University of Copenhagen (UCPH)
Financial support from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation
(Norad)
The Sustainable Development Agenda
This project builds on previous work completed under Extractives for Development (E4D)
BOOK IN PRODUCTION: SCHEDULED PUBLICATION DECEMBER 2024Almost everything that is essential to modern society — transport and power systems, buildings, machinery, and medical devices — depends upon metals, minerals, and stone as well as oil and...
Companies in the oil, gas, and mining sectors face ever intensifying scrutiny over their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices and impacts: from civil society but also from investment funds and other stakeholders with ESG mandates...
While market mechanisms and private initiatives can deliver much for development, public action is also necessary to: maximize the economic benefits of the extractive industries; manage potentially large capital and revenues flows; minimize adverse...
This paper analyses the roles that states, civil society, and international actors can play in tackling the weak governance that sometimes leads to resources being used for private rather than public benefit. It discusses the corruption that bedevils...
This paper argues for a change in government attitudes to their extractive industries: as enclaves useful primarily as revenue sources. This is too narrow a perspective: it fails to recognize the broader economic linkages that are invariably possible...
This paper analyses the risks facing resource-dependent countries. These include: (i) economic mismanagement (the ‘resource curse’); (ii) political mismanagement; (iii) environmental damage (climate change and the destruction of natural capital). It...
The extractives industries are highly controversial but remain vitally important in much of the developing world. This paper considers their role in reducing energy poverty and discusses scenarios for the future of the global markets for oil, gas...
This study proposes a new measure of Fiscal Dependence on Extractive revenues: FDE. The FDE estimates, simply, the extent to which extractive-producing countries can fund day-to-day government spending with non-extractive revenues.By focusing...
Illicit gold flows constitute a major development challenge for governments and a social responsibility challenge for the jewellery industry, which accounts for the majority of global gold demand. This paper highlights aspects of gold supply chains...
In Africa, there is a distressing correlation between debt and the need to export raw materials. A new paradigm is needed in which African countries...
The recently concluded COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh had one important outcome for developing countries: the announcement of a loss and damage fund. This...
Theme: 2019-23, Transforming states
Join the network
