Global Witness - Breaking the links between natural resources, conflict and corruption
Climate Change and Energy Security
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Decreasing energy supplies and ever-increasing consumer demand have set the stage for a high risk future in which countries compete ever more aggressively for dwindling supplies of key sources of energy.
A world without enough oil is unlikely to be a peaceful place. Our near-total dependence on oil for food production and transport mean that decreasing availability is likely to lead to food shortages and increased geopolitical tension. It will threaten the nascent global governance reform agenda and could cause major international conflict over resources. The poorest will be pushed to the back of the queue and inequality will grow, which in turn will feed social unrest.
Governments and multi-lateral agencies have failed to publicly acknowledge the imminence and scale of the global oil supply crunch, and most of them remain completely unprepared for its consequences. Global Witness is calling on governments to officially acknowledge the crunch and to shift urgently into safe sustainable energy alternatives.
Read our report, Heads in the Sand: Governments ignore the oil supply crunch and threaten the climate, for an accessible analysis of the problem.
Four key underlying oil production factors
Four underlying factors combine to demonstrate that the world is facing an imminent oil supply crunch. Some of these factors have been apparent for many years.
1. Declining output: 1965 was the year in which the largest volume of oil was discovered. Since then, the trend in the number and average size of discoveries has been in decline.
2. Declining discoveries: In 1984 global conventional crude oil consumption exceeded the volume discovered, and the gap has continued to increase since then.
3. Increasing demand: Between 2005 and 2008 conventional oil production ceased to grow, despite massive investment, increasing demand and prices. This failure to increase conventional oil production, despite all the right incentives, is unprecedented in the history of the oil industry.
4. Lack of oil projects in the pipeline: By 2008 the annual drop in output from existing fields stood at 3.7 million barrels per day, which requires the same amount to be added every year just to keep the same level of output. This is the equivalent to more than one third of the entire output from Saudi Arabia.
Governments must act now
It is difficult to overstate the implications for the climate, not to mention global governance, food security, increased corruption, and potentially also outright conflict through an unsuccessful effort to sustain the existing global reliance on oil. The failure in Copenhagen to agree binding international targets to fight climate change has highlighted the need for governments to face up to their individual responsibilities to take action.
Director's comment on over-optimism in energy debate
Read Guardian article on Heads in the Sand
Latest Publications
March 2010
New evidence confirms oil revenue transparency still eludes Sudan
Large discrepancies persist between the oil production data published by the government of Sudan and those published by the main Chinese oil company operating in the country, Global Witness said today, six months after the publication of its report which first exposed the gaps.
Environmental groups call on French shipping company Delmas to cancel shipment of precious wood from Madagascar
Global Witness and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) today called on French shipping company Delmas to cancel a shipment to China of hundreds of tons of rosewood from the port of Vohémar, in northeastern Madagascar. The campaign groups accuse the company of facilitating the destruction of Madagascar’s last remaining forests caused by vast illegal logging of rosewood.
Open letter to Delmas shipping company raises concerns over rosewood shipments from Madagascar
An open letter from Global Witness and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) to Delmas shipping company expressing grave concerns at its involvement in the transport of timber from Madagascar which has been declared illicit by the Malagasy authorities. The groups accuse Delmas of facilitaitng the destruction Madagascar's remaining rosewood forests through illegal logging.
Link between Angolan president's son-in-law and state oil company raises questions about transparency
The son-in-law of the Angolan president has been nominated to the board of a holding company that owns a third of the Portuguese oil firm Galp Energia, which has investments in Angola. The nomination was made by the State oil company, Sonangol, which is responsible for managing Angola's oil on behalf of its citizens. This arrangement raises concerns about conflicts of interest to which Sonangol has not responded.
DR Congo: ex-rebels take over mineral trade extortion racket
Former rebels from the Congrès national pour la défense du peuple (CNDP) have established mafia-style extortion rackets covering some of the most lucrative tin and tantalum mining areas in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Global Witness reported today following four weeks of research in the region.
Global Witness concerned at choice of new Ukraine energy minister
Global Witness is concerned that Yuri Boyko, a controversial figure from the murky past of Ukraine’s gas industry, has been put back in effective charge of a key gas supply route from Russia to the European Union.
Landmark oil and mining transparency initiative faces credibility test as key deadline passes
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a pioneering initiative to bring more openness to the world's oil and mining industries, faces a major credibility test after 20 out of 22 countries failed to meet a key deadline today.
Global Witness urges Cambodia’s donors to condemn sponsorship of military units by private businesses
Aid donors to Cambodia, including the US, EU, Japan, China and the World Bank, should send a strong message to the government that they will not countenance the bankrolling of Cambodia’s military by private businesses. This call follows the announcement last week by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen of the formation of 42 official partnerships between private businesses and Cambodian military units.
February 2010
A near miss? Lessons learnt from the allocation of mining licences in the Gola Forest Reserve in Sierra Leone
Between 2005 and 2007, two mining licences were issued in the Gola Forest Reserve in Sierra Leone, even though the area was a proposed national park. This new report identifies weaknesses in Sierra Leone's natural resource governance and attempts to draw lessons for the future.
Parliamentary committee report on libel, privacy and press freedom not strong enough to defend public interest reporting
A report on press standards, privacy and libel makes broadly sensible recommendations but does not go far enough to allay fears that England's laws are a barrier to public-interest campaigning.
Campaigners criticise proposals to define palm oil plantations as forests
The Ecosystems Climate Alliance today criticised the EU and Indonesia for attempting to reclassify palm oil plantations as forests, saying this would be a step backwards in efforts to halt climate change though preventing deforestation.
