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Transparency in Context & in Development: Lessons Governance Experiments

Transparency in Context & in Development: Lessons Governance Experiments. Stacy D. VanDeveer Fellow, Transatlantic Academy & Associate Professor, University of New Hampshire. Making Sense of the Politics of Global Consumption . Overlapping Governance Challenges at multiple levels:

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Transparency in Context & in Development: Lessons Governance Experiments

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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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