Part 6: Duties to the Environment
86 What is a “social license to operate”?
A social license to operate exists when a local community gives their support to a company’s actions.
A “social license to operate” is a term used when communities approve of the actions of a company located in their environment. Read about these principles here: http://socialicense.com/index.html, including “What is a Social License”, “Social License in Action”, and “Measuring the Social License”. Pay particular attention to the stages of the license (Legitimacy, Credibility, and Trust).
Exercises
- The article “Social License in Action” describes a case study, the history of a large mine in Bolivia. What helped move the company from Legitimacy to Credibility? What helped the company move from Credibility to Trust? What then moved the company from Trust back down to Legitimacy?
- Read this article about a sinkhole in Mexico, which a local community blamed on a bottler depleting an aquifer. What stages of Legitimacy / Credibility / Trust are shown in this article?
