Introducing the Resource Governance Assessment: A Redefined Tool for a New Era

This year, as NRGI marks its 20th anniversary, we are launching the Resource Governance Assessment (RGA), a new framework providing a comprehensive, independent understanding of governance across the mining, oil and gas decision chains. Built for governments, civil society, oversight institutions and others, it helps identify where governance is working, where gaps remain and where change is most needed.

Why a new assessment?

Resource governance has changed significantly over the past two decades. In the past, debates centered on revenue management, taxation and transparency. Today, the lens is much wider. Resource-rich countries are making decisions across a range of interlinked spaces that will shape their economies for decades—from approving new mining or extraction projects, to deciding how revenues are spent, to determining how communities share in the benefits and how the energy transition reshapes their prospects.

These changes demand a different kind of assessment. The RGA provides a shared evidence base for informed decision-making across multiple, linked areas of resource governance, designed to support change. Governments can use the findings to strengthen laws, policies and institutions. Civil society and oversight bodies can support accountability and advocacy with credible facts, while companies, investors and development partners can better understand governance risks and opportunities for engagement.

The RGA builds on the legacy of NRGI's Resource Governance Index (RGI), published in 2012, 2017 and 2021. Assessing extractive governance across dozens of countries, the RGI established a global evidence base and encouraged governments to strengthen policy and practice. But as governance challenges became more complex, a single global index, tied to a specific point in time could no longer capture the full picture. 

The RGA responds with a more flexible, country-specific framework.

The RGA: a closer look 

The RGA is designed to provide a complete and practical assessment of resource governance. It does this in four ways. 

Comprehensive

The RGA examines governance across four components that together span the resource decision chain:

• Licensing and taxation 
• Revenue management 
• Socio-environmental impacts 
• Energy transition

Together, these components provide a more complete picture of how natural resources are governed, from awarding licenses to protecting communities and managing for the energy transition. Every assessment includes a common set of core indicators, alongside optional indicators, providing both a consistent foundation across assessments, as well as the ability to tailor the RGA to specific circumstances.

Country-specific

The RGA is a country-specific assessment, allowing it to respond to national priorities and be carried out when it can have the greatest impact, such as during policy reforms, election cycles, or major resource or investment decisions. Optional indicators also allow each assessment to reflect the country's context and specific governance targets, making findings more relevant and useful.

Because countries are assessed at different times and can include country-specific indicators, the RGA is not intended as a ranking or league table. Comparisons remain possible for indicators consistent with previous editions of the RGI, but the RGA's purpose is to support practical action in each country.

Collaborative

Stakeholder engagement also plays a much greater role in the RGA than it did in the RGI. Consultations take place when indicators are selected and again when preliminary findings are shared with key stakeholders for review. Governments and other stakeholders can also submit additional public documentation before assessments are finalized. This strengthens the process, builds confidence in the findings and helps ensure they can inform policy going forward.

Evidence-based and transparent

Every finding rests on publicly available evidence, assessed against a published methodology. Like the RGI, the RGA measures the gap between the legal framework (“law” indicators) and actual practice (“practice” indicators). This shows not only where strong rules exist, but whether they are effectively implemented and where reform is needed to make a real difference. 

Looking ahead

The first RGA assessment, covering Indonesia's licensing and taxation component, will be published in the coming weeks, with the remaining three components for Indonesia to follow. Assessments for Chile, Senegal and Zambia will be published over the coming months, with additional countries to follow over time.Like resource governance itself, the RGA will continue to evolve. New optional modules, including one on value addition, are already being developed to ensure the framework remains relevant as new challenges emerge.

As the choices facing resource-rich countries grow even more complex, the need for credible, independent evidence will only grow. The RGA is designed to meet that need, turning evidence into dialogue, decisions and lasting change.