NRGI in 2024: Relentless Commitment Amid Relentless Change

The pace of change in this “year of elections” and the scale of challenges has felt relentless. At NRGI we have responded in kind – with a relentless commitment to advancing resource governance to support sustainable development and just energy transitions.

Relentless drive

As members of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals, in four short months we delivered principles and actions for a new paradigm for justice and equity in transition minerals, informed by the shared vision of more than 300 civil society organizations. Whether at Climate Week New York, partnering with the Colombian government on the launch of a joint action for accountable mining at the biodiversity COP16, or alongside the UN Secretary-General, heads of state and ministers from key mining countries at COP29, we sought to turn that vision into reality.
 
These international efforts were reinforced and informed by our country programs in Colombia, DRC, Ghana, Indonesia and Mexico, as well as our recently launched program in Chile, where we have partnered with government and civil society to ensure the new lithium regime brings benefits to citizens and local communities.

Relentless rigor

Changes in government in countries like Ghana, Mexico and Senegal opened new opportunities to help producing countries navigate the uncertainty of the fossil fuel transition.
 
In Nigeria, we raised awareness of the country’s methane emissions, and shared our guidebook for energy transition with decision makers and civil society actors. In Senegal, we analyzed the country’s gas-to-power ambitions, and supported efforts to renegotiate contracts, reduce tax avoidance and increase the revenues available to support citizen priorities. In Mexico, we engaged the incoming administration around national oil company Pemex’s approaches to the energy transition. And in the Middle East and North Africa, just transitions (including gender-responsive ones) remain an animating focus.
 
In Colombia, we engaged in debates around the role of gas in energy transitions and continued our support to communities and vulnerable groups as they articulate a new transition narrative for the country. In Peru, where energy transition dialogues are still in their early stages, we have engaged civil society groups on the future of oil production, including in the Amazon.

Relentless optimism

Against the scourge of corruption we have just unleashed new findings on tell-tale red flags for corruption in the mining industry, and we are accompanying partners in several countries to spot these warning signs and take action. Uptake of our anticorruption tool continues, in Guinea and elsewhere.  
 
In a year when threats against advocates for resource governance and environmental and climate defenders reached an all-time high, we ramped up support to anti-corruption advocates like Gubad Ibadoghlu, who has been wrongfully imprisoned for over 500 days.
 
We are now poised to continue our relentless pursuit – of excellence in all that we do, of justice and equity in the energy transition, and of inclusivity and sustainability in development. As ever, we are hugely grateful for our partners, our funders and our governing boards, who sustain our relentless commitment.