Meaningful engagement (working definition): an ongoing two-way partnership between a company and its stakeholders wherein engagement is conducted in good faith by all parties, is responsive to concerns/ issues raised and incorporates feedback received into decision-making processes.
Communication: the one-way conveyance of information between a company and stakeholders. This may include information related to a project, operation, and/or activity (e.g. descriptions of events, timeframes for development or key messages/ benefits).
Engage: to cause a stakeholder to be attracted to or involved in a particular project/activity/event; and/ or the ability of a practitioner or company to hold a stakeholder’s interest or attention.
Environmental justice: the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of socio-economic status, race, culture, nationality and education level with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of protective environmental laws, regulations and policies (adapted from United States Environmental Protection Agency 2016, p.55).
Free, prior and informed consent (FPIC): a specific consent granted to organisations from Indigenous Peoples derived from the ‘right to self- determination’ under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023, FPIC comprises the following elements:
- Free: the consent is free, given voluntarily and without coercion, intimidation or manipulation. A process that is self-directed by the community from whom consent is being sought, unencumbered by coercion, expectations or timelines that are externally imposed.
- Prior: the consent is sought sufficiently in advance of any authorisation or commencement of activities.
- Informed: the engagement and type of information that should be provided prior to seeking consent and also as part of the ongoing consent process.
- Consent: collective decision made by the right holders and reached through a customary decision-making process of the communities.
Grievance: grievances relate to allegations of specific incidents and of any damage, impact or dissatisfaction resulting from company actions. These may be perceived or actual (adapted from Ipieca 2014, p.6).
Grievance mechanism: a process for receiving, investigating, responding to and closing out complaints or grievances from affected communities in a timely, fair and consistent manner (adapted from Ipieca 2014, p.6).
Human rights defender: used to describe individuals or groups or individuals who peacefully act to promote or protect human rights (adapted from United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner [OHCHR] 2024).
Just transition: the term used to describe the oil and gas industry’s participation in international collaboration to transition to a low-carbon world in a way that’s just and fair for workforces, communities and consumers (adapted from the Ipieca statement on just transition).
Achieving this transition will require collaboration between governments, employers, businesses, unions, communities, civil society, UN agencies and other international organisations. International efforts to achieve a just transition should:
- Respect the rights of communities and workforces, including in global supply chains
- Address impacts on those who currently depend on the oil and gas industry for jobs and energy, or benefit from its social investments
- Address impacts of new types of business that reduce carbon and develop renewables
- Promote long-term opportunities for decent work and sustainable livelihoods
- Make lower-carbon energy affordable and reliable for developing nations as well as developed countries
- Avoid penalising poor, vulnerable and historically disadvantaged people, and promote social equity in the distribution of low-carbon energy benefits
- Fulfil the 2015 Paris Agreement statements on just transition and leave no-one behind in a world aspiring to a net-zero future
- Support UN Sustainable Development Goals that are relevant to a just transition (adapted from Ipieca 2024).
Lagging indicator: an observable measurement of what has already occurred.
Leading indicator: a predictive measurement that will help to anticipate trends or provide insight into future conditions.
Social incident: an incident that has material social consequences which have resulted from a project, operation, and/or activity carried out by a company. The incident may have arisen from an accident (i.e. unplanned) or be related to a general failure of a company to anticipate, prevent or mitigate an impact.
Stakeholder: ‘persons or groups who are directly or indirectly affected by a project, as well as those who may have interests in a project and/or the ability to influence its outcome, either positively or negatively. Stakeholders may include locally affected communities or individuals and their formal and informal representatives, national or local government authorities, politicians, religious leaders, civil society organisations and groups with special interests, the academic community, or other businesses’ (International Finance Corporation (IFC) 2007, pp.10).
For the purposes of this guidance the term ‘stakeholder’ refers to local external stakeholder groups (e.g. local communities, local/provincial governments and local NGOs) rather than non-local external stakeholders (e.g. federal governments, international NGOs) or internal stakeholders (e.g. contractors and suppliers).
Stakeholder engagement plan: a document prepared by a company that is used to guide engagement with stakeholders. The document should, at a minimum, identify all key stakeholders identified through the stakeholder mapping; describe how these stakeholders will be engaged (i.e. the techniques/ tools used, communication methods, frequency of engagement and company responsibilities); outline key messages and information to be provided to stakeholders; detail the grievance mechanism to be implemented; and outline the program to facilitate ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the efficacy of the plan.