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Article

21 Nov 2008

Author:
Keith Slack, Oxfam America, in Policy Innovations [USA]

Corporate Social License and Community Consent

Although social license...seems consistent with new corporate social responsibility standards, when pressed, corporations are rarely willing to equate it with community consent... The distinction between social license and consent is critical because accepting community consent as a basic operating standard sets a higher bar. If a community's actual consent is required before operations begin, companies must treat the community as more of a partner in project development, rather than as an obstacle to overcome. It also implies that a company must engage more holistically with a community, providing them access to critical information and allowing them adequate time to assess their needs and interests... [A] recent study by the World Resources Institute found that by working to obtain community consent at a project in the Philippines, Shell may have saved as much as $72 million in project delays, which amounted to a 1,200 percent return on its community consent efforts. [also refers to Newmont]