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Abstract Globally, stakeholders are increasingly disheartened with business profit at the expense of society. Governments have attempted to balance company profits and competitiveness with benefits to society by introducing policies and regulation. Whilst this has increased corporate social-responsibility spend, it has made little impact. To date, many stakeholders, including governments and communities, continue to believe that oil and gas companies are the sole earners of wealth and that they continue to prosper at the expense of broader society. This prevalent misperception has resulted in a crisis of trust.
Lack of trust brings potential social volatility, which in turn jeopardizes the โsocial license to operateโ of oil and gas companies. How then do they improve their reputations, deal with stakeholder perceptions and demands, achieve a greater socio-economic impact, and meet compliance requirements? Building trust, particularly regarding climate action and sustainability, is a journey toward incorporating a broader purpose and greater transparency. It requires ecosystem-thinking, where companies collaborate throughout the energy value chain on solutions to global problems. For many, it will also demand reimagining stakeholder communication, giving various groups a greater window into the companyโs efforts to decarbonize and to develop innovative solutions that benefit society, such as carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) and green hydrogen. This paper explores the potential for bringing the oil and gas sector, government, and society together to overcome the trust deficit and generate shared value beyond compliance.
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