Legitimacy, credibility and trust as the key components of a social licence to operate: An analysis of BP's projects in Georgia

Abstract

We consider the extent to which the concept of Social Licence to Operate can be applied in actual practice by considering BP's activities in Georgia, especially the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Southern Caucasus Pipeline projects. We adapt the model originally developed by Thomson and Boutilier, particularly by further elaborating their three underlying concepts: legitimacy, credibility and trust. We discuss BP's activities in relation to each of these concepts to determine: (1) whether the adapted model can provide practical and useful results in assessing the SLO of project proponents; and (2) if it is found to be useful, what level of SLO has BP achieved for its projects in Georgia. We conclude that the revised Social Licence framework can be usefully applied and BP has achieved at least an 'acceptance' level from the local community. We also draw lessons from BP's experience that can be utilized elsewhere and in the future.

CEO letters: Social license to operate and community involvement in the mining industry

“…The codes named with the letter E in Table were defined in a theoretically driven way while carrying out the content analysis, and determining whether the terms indicating the three levels of SLO appeared in CEO letters. The theoretical base used to define these codes centred on the works by Boutilier and Thomson () and Jijelava and Vanclay () shown in Table , with some adaptations: Legitimacy in these two works appears in reports when companies talk about ethical behaviour (M8) and having a positive impact on the community (M4). In our model, these two expressions are part of the CEO discourse.…”

“…Teschner (2013) used two cases in Ghana to explain that involving communities from the beginning of a project and managing initial contacts with the community correctly Source. Boutilier and Thomson (2011) and Jijelava and Vanclay (2017).…”

“…It is both a goal to be reached and a set of guidelines to follow De Jong and Humphreys (2016) An informal, implicit and ongoing permission granted to a business to engage in economic development or the extraction of natural resources. It is a form of bargain between a business corporation and one or more social groups, often including one or more communities Jijelava and Vanclay (2017) An expression or turn of phrase that refers to the level of acceptance a company or project has from local communities Source. Different sources.…”

“…The codes named with the letter E in Table 6 were defined in a theoretically driven way while carrying out the content analysis, and determining whether the terms indicating the three levels of SLO appeared in CEO letters. The theoretical base used to define these codes centred on the works by Boutilier and Thomson (2011) and Jijelava and Vanclay (2017) shown in 3. In the two reference works, Trust was included in reports through expressions such as "we work to maintain the trust of communities" (E1).…”

Project-induced displacement and resettlement: from impoverishment risks to an opportunity for development?

“…When the concerns of the host community are not adequately considered, this is likely to result in resentment. In some cases, this resentment may result in a degree of As argued by Jijelava and Vanclay (2017) and Franks et al (2014), a lack of social licence is likely to lead to a range of protest actions against the project (Hanna et al 2016b) that could result in:…”