ONE Reaction to the G20 Summit: Transparency ball kept in play, but limited gains

WASHINGTON—The ONE Campaign reacted to the conclusion of the G20 Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia with the following statement.

Michael Elliott, President and CEO of The ONE Campaign, said:

“The outcome of the G20 Summit is a mixed bag when it comes to transparency. The G20 has kept the ball in play, taking some limited steps towards the rules needed to allow people the world over to follow the money and hold governments and companies to account. On tax transparency some good progress was made – with clear recognition that reforms must benefit developing countries. However, we are disappointed that leaders did not make any progress on requiring oil, gas and mining companies to disclose the payments they make to governments, nor did they do much to crack down on the phantom firms that enable corrupt leaders and irresponsible companies to rob Africa of much-needed resources.

“It’s critical that developing countries are involved, included and benefit from progress on transparency; we will be watching closely to see that the G20’s commitments to ensure that developing countries reap the benefits of the transparency agenda are matched by appropriate actions. By the time of next year’s G20, in Australia, we expect to see accelerated progress, with public registries of companies and trusts on the way to being established as a global norm for beneficial ownership. On this, Europe can and should lead the way. Warm words uttered at G8 and G20 Summits must translate into action in Brussels.”