Too much ‘small thinking’ by firms: interview with Global Witness

November 2009

Global Witness’ campaigns director wants resource firms to think bigger about the socio-political context in which they operate

Did resources buy this gun?

Gavin Hayman, the subject of this Critical Resource interview, is campaigns director at Global Witness, an influential London-based NGO which aims to break the links between the exploitation of natural resources and issues such as conflict, corruption, human rights and environmental abuses. Its campaigns have been critical in the development of a number of key global initiatives in this area including the Kimberley Process to end the trade in ‘conflict diamonds’ and also the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

In the first part of this podcast interview, Gavin Hayman calls on resource companies to apply more ‘strategic thinking’ to their activities in countries where governance is week and where still too often, he argues, they are failing to adequately address socio-political issues (click here to listen to part 1).

In part two, he reflects on the significance for western firms of increased investment by Chinese resource companies (click here to listen to part 2).

Finally, he provides an update on next steps for Global Witness (click here to listen to part 3), including work on the Kimberley Process and on developing governance safeguards for the next commodities boom (click here to listen to part 4).

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