Papua New Guinea has a substantial body of extractive-sector governance data that could help shape the country's emerging environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting framework, according to the Papua New Guinea Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (PNGEITI).
PNGEITI Executive Director George Kauli said the information collected, reconciled and publicly disclosed through the EITI process could provide a credible foundation for stronger ESG reporting, assurance and investor confidence.
Kauli made the remarks during the 2026 Certified Practising Accountant Papua New Guinea (CPA PNG) conference in Lae on Aug. 28, where he delivered a presentation titled "Bridging Transparency and Transformation: Integrating PNGEITI Data into National ESG Reporting Frameworks."
It was PNGEITI's first presentation at a CPA PNG conference and opened a new avenue for engagement with the accounting and finance profession.
Kauli said the engagement was important because accountants and finance professionals play a central role in how information is collected, verified, reported and ultimately used for decision-making.
He said PNG did not necessarily need to start from scratch in developing the information base required for ESG reporting.
Instead, the country could make better use of governance data already collected and reconciled through PNGEITI.
Under the EITI Standard, government agencies and companies involved in PNG's mining and oil and gas sectors disclose information across the extractive industry value chain.
This includes contracts and licences, production and exports, government revenues, company payments, beneficial ownership, state participation, subnational payments and transfers, as well as social and environmental expenditures.
Kauli said the data provided an opportunity to connect transparency with ESG reporting while potentially reducing duplication between reporting systems.
The EITI value chain generates information from licensing and production through to revenue collection, allocation and benefits received by communities.
"When these datasets are connected, they provide a more complete picture of how Papua New Guinea's natural resources contribute to the economy and society," he said.
Kauli, however, stressed that data was valuable only when it was reliable, comparable, transparent and capable of supporting sound decisions.
He said this was where the relationship between EITI and ESG became particularly important.
Kauli also clarified that PNGEITI was primarily a governance initiative rather than an environmental reporting framework.
"As Papua New Guinea's national implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, PNGEITI collects information from reporting government agencies and extractive companies, reconciles payments and receipts, produces independently verified reports and publicly discloses the results," he said.
"Its broader purpose is to improve transparency, strengthen accountability and support evidence-based policy-making."
Looking at the EITI value chain through an ESG lens, Kauli identified significant areas of overlap.
PNGEITI provides governance information on revenues, tax payments, beneficial ownership, contracts, state participation and subnational transfers, while also capturing social information related to community investments, local content and benefit sharing.
Kauli said ESG was increasingly influencing how investors assess companies, projects and jurisdictions.
For PNG, he said the discussion should therefore go beyond whether companies were producing ESG reports and consider whether investors could trust the information provided, whether resource revenues were managed transparently, whether communities were benefiting and whether institutions had the capacity to produce reliable information.
"Investment follows confidence and confidence requires credible information," Kauli said.
He said one of the key messages for the accounting profession was that the focus should not simply be on what data was available, but on the reliability of that data.
Kauli highlighted independent reconciliation, multi-stakeholder oversight, public disclosure and reporting against an internationally recognised standard as key characteristics of PNGEITI data.
He said these principles were closely aligned with the work of accountants and assurance professionals, where the quality of a final report depended on the quality of underlying information, controls, verification processes and supporting evidence.
Revenue verification
The presentation prompted a question from an accountant about whether revenue data collected by PNGEITI was credible and could be relied upon for reporting.
Kauli said PNGEITI did not simply accept information provided by extractive companies at face value.
Instead, the EITI reporting process applies several layers of verification to establish the reliability of the information.
"Extractive companies provide financial and other relevant information for the specific financial year being reported and that information is subject to their own internal processes and controls, including internal audit processes," he said.
PNGEITI then verifies company-reported information against records held by relevant government reporting agencies.
"For example, if a company reports a particular amount of Corporate Income Tax for a financial year, we verify that information with the Internal Revenue Commission," Kauli said.
PNGEITI reporting also covers production, exports and sales, subnational payments and transfers and other information across the extractive industry value chain.
Information submitted by reporting entities is ultimately reconciled by an independent administrator, providing another layer of independent verification.
Kauli also highlighted efforts to strengthen assurance around government-reported data through the JICA-funded Revenue Management Project, implemented in partnership with the Office of the PNG Auditor-General.
Through agreed-upon procedures, or AUP, PNGEITI is supporting additional verification of selected extractive revenue streams and government reporting processes.
"Unlike a financial audit, AUP involves specific procedures agreed between the relevant parties, with the practitioner reporting factual findings rather than providing an audit opinion," he said.
The initiative complements PNGEITI's existing reconciliation process and is intended to strengthen government assurance systems and confidence in the accuracy and reliability of extractive revenue reporting.
Subnational transparency
Kauli also highlighted PNGEITI's expanding work to improve transparency at the subnational level through its Subnational Awareness Roadshow, supported by the World Bank.
The initiative engages provincial governments, local-level governments and landowner associations to improve understanding of extractive revenue flows and strengthen stakeholders' ability to access, understand and use the information.
Kauli said an important question for many Papua New Guineans was not simply how much extractive revenue had been collected nationally, but what happened to revenue intended to benefit their province, district, local-level government or community.
Strengthening transparency at the subnational level was also important from an ESG perspective, he said, because the social impacts and benefits of extractive projects were ultimately experienced at community and subnational levels.
ESG opportunities
Looking ahead, Kauli identified three opportunities for PNG: recognising PNGEITI as a governance data source for national ESG reporting; strengthening collaboration between PNGEITI and the accounting profession; and developing national ESG assurance capability in areas such as data controls, verification and assurance methodologies.
He said the accounting profession, including CPA PNG, had an important role to play as ESG reporting developed, particularly through its expertise in controls, materiality, reporting systems, assurance and data quality.
Kauli summed up his presentation in five words: transparency, trust, investment, opportunity and transformation.
"Transparency provides reliable and accessible information. Reliable information builds trust. Trust creates confidence, and confidence supports investment," he said.
"Investment, in turn, creates opportunities for jobs, infrastructure and inclusive development. Ultimately, these contribute to transformation."
Kauli said PNGEITI already had a trusted foundation of governance data, but integrating that information into PNG's broader ESG reporting landscape would require collaboration among government, industry, civil society and the accounting and finance profession.
