A/HRC/42/42 surveillance, any kind of knowledge transfer with military applications, material and technical support to armed forces and other related activities”, and security services as “armed guarding or protection of buildings, installations, property and people, any kind of knowledge transfer with security and policing applications, development and implementation of informational security measures and other related activities”.3 In the present report, the Working Group also refers to “private security” for different private security actors operating in the extractive industry (see para. 25 below). 18. The Working Group prepared its report on the basis of information obtained from a variety of sources. In July 2017, it organized an expert consultation on private military and security companies and the extractive industry in New York. In April 2019, another consultation, bringing together experts from Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe, was held in Geneva. In January 2019, a public call for submissions was issued. 4 The Working Group also relied on desk research and interviews with stakeholders. 19. The Working Group faced several challenges in preparing the report. The limited amount of recent, publicly accessible data proved to be a particular challenge when assessing current trends, while the lack of transparency associated with these sectors often obscured the distinction between different security providers operating in the extractive industry and their respective roles and responsibilities. While obtaining relevant data was challenging in peaceful contexts, gaps in information were even more significant in situations of armed conflict. B. Extractive industry 20. Today, the extractive industry is an important client base for private military and security companies. It is also an industry with formidable economic power and considerable political influence, albeit regularly associated with concerns over access to land and human rights abuses on local communities. Data from 2016 show that extractive corporations are among the world’s highest earning entities, and significantly exceed the national gross domestic revenues of many countries. 5 In 2018, five out of the 10 largest corporations in the world by revenue were oil and gas companies. 6 While the industry has been traditionally dominated by companies registered in the global North conducting operations in natural resource-rich countries in the global South, in recent years the market has diversified; currently, the two highest earning extractive companies in the world are from China. 7 The impact of the extractive industry on socioeconomic conditions and human rights has often been analysed through the North-South lens; such a premise is evolving, however, because of the strengthening of economic ties among countries in the global South. 21. At the same time, the extractive industry constitutes a major source of national revenue and exports for some States, especially those from the global South. According to the World Bank, 22 States – 10 of them in Africa, and none in the global North – rely on natural resources for more than 20 per cent of their gross domestic revenue.8 Proceeds from the extractive sectors have regularly been associated with corruption and the accrual of wealth by ruling elites rather than improving everyday living standards. Moreover, the extractive industry is a high-investment sector with long-term commitments by companies to operate in a defined part of the territory where they exploit resources.9 Such companies make multi-billion-dollar investments to build, maintain and operate extractive projects and employ a large number of workers, some of them recruited from abroad; they therefore have 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 6 A/HRC/15/25, annex, art.2. See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Mercenaries/WGMercenaries/Pages/Callforsubmissiones PrivateMilitarySecurity.aspx. Global Justice Now, “10 biggest corporations make more money than most countries in the world combined”, 12 September 2016. See https://fortune.com/global500/search/. Ibid. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.TOTL.RT.ZS. Hugo Slim, “Business actors in armed conflicts: towards a new humanitarian agenda”, International Review of the Red Cross, vol. 94, No. 887, p. 911.