The World Bank Group (WBG) has the potential to improve the contribution of extractive industries (EI) to sustainable development and poverty reduction. However, this report by the WBG’s operations evaluation departments finds that although its EI projects have produced positive economic and financial results, it has not been successful in ensuring compliance to environmental and social safeguards.

This report exposes how these last precious forests in the Indonesian archipelago, particularly in the province of Papua are being felled illegally and sold off wholesale to China, which is now the largest consumer of stolen timber in the world.It highlights the following points:there is a complex web of middlemen and financiers from across the region responsible for masterminding the theft of Indonesia’s forests, including timber barons in Jakarta, officials on their payrolls, multinational companies in Malaysia, brokers in Singapore and log dealers in Hong Kong in just a few short years,

This report argues that for many developing countries, oil reserves are more likely to prove a curse than a blessing. Poor countries dependent on oil revenues have a higher incidence of four great and interconnected ills.

The purpose of this Source Book is to provide guidance to resource rich countries and extractive industries companies on the key steps and additional actions for implementing EITI. The Source Book is in two complementary parts: the first provides guidance for resource rich countries; the second for extractive industry companies.Guidance for Resource Rich CountriesIn order to reach consensus on the development and planning of EITI a number of key actions have to be undertaken by the government throughout the initiation phase.

Based on case studies of mining in South Africa and Zambia, this article assesses CSR practices with accountability and fairness as key criteria.Main findings and conclusions of the report are:CSR is an increasingly prominent discourse also in southern Africa, particularly among mining companies due to mining’s potentially significant negative social and environmental impacts as well as inherent finiteness of the resource bodyaccountability - the emphasis on identifying and mitigating the impacts of core business practices - and fairness - the emphasis on helping the most vulnerable - are k

The objective of this research report was to establish whether, and to what extent, post-conflict efforts at national, regional and international levels are improving the situation of artisanal gold-mining communities in the provinces of Orientale, North and South Kivu, and Maniema in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The research proceeded from the assumption that legal and regulatory instruments and institutions created after the 2006 elections to regularise and support the DRC’s informal mining sector should now be starting to show positive effects.

The development of mining value chains is conflictual but deeply intertwined with the goal of sustainable development.  The response of mining value chains to the shift to a green economy cannot be business-as-usual and requires a proactive answer by business, Government, labour, non-governmental organisations and the research community in support of sustainable development. The transition to a green economy will not fundamentally challenge the central position of mining value chains in South Africa’s development path.

The first regional conference for southern and East Africa on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) was held in Cape Town on 21st May 2012. The overall aim was to evaluate the EITI’s impact on the promotion of transparency and accountability in southern and East Africa. Its specific objectives included:

This report investigates how Dutch public money is being used to support oil production in developing countries through Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) such as the World Bank and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and other International Financial Institutions (IFIs). It notes that the Dutch government contributes to MDBs in two ways: through financial contributions using public money and by voting on the boards of the banks.Three case studies demonstrate that recent oil projects financed by the Dutch government and MDBs are failing the poor.

This report explores how, across the world, the revenues from oil, gas and mining that should be funding sustainable economic development have often been misappropriated and mismanaged. Specifically, it analyses five major examples of this problem: Kazakhstan, Congo Brazzaville, Angola, Equatorial Guinea and Nauru.The report argues that in these countries, governments do not provide even basic information about their revenues from natural resources. Nor do oil, mining and gas companies publish any information about payments made to governments.

Environmental,  social  and  governance  (ESG)  concerns  are  an  increasingly  important  factor worldwide for banks when they invest in large projects. In the Southern African region with its rich mineral deposits, this trend has added importance. Mining companies extract minerals from the ground, and their activities routinely give rise to public concerns about the pollution of water sources, adequate land for agriculture, and fair community participation in mining projects.

This report analyses all aspects of the metals mining industry, the extraction process, its products, and its social and environmental impacts.