PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (TTEITI), Gregory McGuire, has been elected to the EITI International Board representing Latin America and the Caribbean.
His election was ratified at last week’s ninth EITI Global Conference in Dakar, Senegal. McGuire will serve in the position until 2026.
McGuire, an energy economist, had a distinguished career spanning 24 years in the energy sector. He is now the owner and principal consultant with VSL Consultants Limited, emphasizing energy strategy and economics.
He is a member of the Board of Governors of the Belize-based Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) member. He has been a member of the CARICOM Economic Commission and a sub-committee chair of the post-COVID-19 roadmap to the recovery task force.
“I am deeply honored to accept the appointment to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative board. This selection results from the innovations Trinidad and Tobago has always promoted within the EITI, whether in disclosing environmental impacts such as emissions or pioneering beneficial ownership disclosure.
“We have always seen ourselves as a CARICOM champion for EITI working closely with other countries in the region like Suriname, Guyana, Argentina, and the Dominican Republic as well as other Latin American countries,” he said, adding, “We will continue using this platform to promote that spirit of cooperation and two-way exchange of experiences on how best to manage our natural resources.”
The TTEITI said that the international organization is the global gold standard for transparency and accountable management for countries rich in natural resources. Currently, 57 countries participate in the initiative, and implementing countries are mandated to independently verify revenue earned from the oil, gas, and mining sectors and provide a platform for multi-stakeholder dialogue on critical issues impacting the industry.
“Over the next three years, the EITI will broaden its focus beyond revenue collection and verification. Its strategic priorities include supporting the energy transition, addressing corruption risks, publishing open data, promoting beneficial ownership disclosure, and measuring extractive sector impacts.”
The TTEITI said that after a recent validation assessment, Trinidad and Tobago scored 89 out of 100 for meeting the requirements for implementing the EITI Standard.
“That tally was the highest score in Latin America and the Caribbean and fourth highest score globally,” it said, noting that for the assessment, the EITI Board commended TTEITI’s efforts in disseminating data to citizens through innovative and high-quality publications on extractive sector management, especially given challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trinidad and Tobago was also commended for being a pioneer in disclosing beneficial ownership information in Latin America, the Caribbean, and beyond. The TTEITI has also pioneered environmental disclosures, with the NGC being the first company to disclose granular GHG emissions data through the EITI framework.
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