Governance via persuasion: environmental NGOs and the social licence to operate

Is social licence “going rogue”?

“…The answer depends, in part, on how social licence is used. If social licence is used to strengthen state policies for resource development – if it is used as a device for “governance by persuasion” (Murphy‐Gregory, ) – then it has the potential to defuse conflicts around resource extraction projects. In this scenario, the state will have regained the confidence of environmental and social activists in its role to regulate and monitor resource development effectively.…”

“…Murphy‐Gregory () provides a more direct way in which social licence is used to shape formal regulations for resource extraction industries. Her work draws on evidence from Tasmania and recent protest action coordinated by environmental NGOs (ENGOs) against two controversial marine‐based developments.…”

“…In her analysis, SLO is a “tactic,” “a campaign strategy,” and “a narrative tool” that can be used by ENGOs to improve state regulatory oversight over resource‐extractive industries. Murphy‐Gregory () draws on governance theory to suggest that this use of SLO should be understood as “governance via persuasion.”…”

“…Yet there is strong evidence to suggest that environmental justice groups and local communities affected by resource development have wrested control of social licence from industry (Curran, 2017;Gunster & Neubauer, 2018, 2019Lester, 2016;Murphy-Gregory, 2017;Syn, 2014). One dimension of this loss of control involves environmental justice groups using social licence to build networks of opposition across widely dispersed spaces (e.g., Gunster & Neubauer, 2018;Lester, 2016;Murphy-Gregory, 2017). At the same time, there are notable cases where communities that are directly affected by resource extraction have used social licence to contest resource development (e.g., Council of Canadians, 2014;Curran, 2017;EAC, 2015).…”

Licença Social Para Operar E Impactos Ambientais: Uma Revisão De Literatura

“…Enquanto a licença social representa uma mudança nas relações de poder, essa mudança acaba limitada por pressões discursivas para legitimar as operações de mineração, restringir as questões de licença social ao nível local, minimizar as imposições regulatórias, marginalizar a dissidência e administrar a reputação (Parsons, Lacey, & Moffat, 2014). Por esse motivo, as campanhas de LSO não podem se basear apenas na acumulação e apresentação de evidências científicas, mas devem envolver também expressões contemporâneas de ativismo ambiental que buscam intervenção regulatória nas práticas corporativas (Murphy-Gregory, 2018).…”