UNITED NATIONS BELIEVES THAT SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY INCREASES COMPANY PERFORMANCE.

July 1st 2008

• Randall Gossen, President of the World Petroleum Council,
statesthat companies need “a social license to operate”.

Social Responsibility has been the focus of today’s luncheon session, which took place today at the 19th World Petroleum Congress. During the event, this theme was dealt with from different perspectives: the business point of view, with the participation of Ali Moshiri, Director of Chevron Africa & Latin America and, on the other hand, from that of the United Nations, with the participation of Georg Kell, Executive Head of the United Nations Global Pact.

Moshiri offered a general vision of the role that Chevron has had regarding social responsibility, declaring that “to triumph, corporate social responsibility should cover all aspects of the production process. In this way, corporate performance will increase.” Chevron, for example, “has evolved to a point whereby it respects fundamental values” such as, for example, the standard of living of societies and the improvement of corporate development in such societies and countries. Taking into consideration activities of social responsibility and environment in every process of daily corporate decision making is, according to Moshiri, the appropriate way to act for his company, in other words, “the Chevron way”.

The President of the World Petroleum Council, Randall Gossen, who acted as a moderator at this Luncheon, congratulated the Spanish people for the Eurocup title and Chevron for their sponsorship of the event, and he introduced Mr. Kell.

Randall Gossen, President of the World Petroleum Council and chair during this debate, emphasised the fact that a strong link exists between the process of corporate decision making, legal compliance and responsibility towards environment and local communities, which are essential for business success. Technology is not the only instrument to guarantee success, “the social licence to operate” is also a requirement. With more than 500 companies and 120 countries participating, the United Nations Global Pact has generated a framework of principals in order for companies to carry out ‘corporate social responsible behaviour’.

Georg Kell began stating that “companies can no longer operate in isolation” , as in the current global interdependent environment businesses need different types of support in order to triumph on a global scale. Thus, the UN Global Pact began “by accident” in 1999, when debates around these issues started, encouraged by the General Secretary of the UN, Kofi Annan.

Companies can prove their leadership by adapting their operations and strategies in the local communities where they are present. In the oil sector, 120 companies have already taken part in this Global Pact. According to Kell, “the operations that companies carry out” from the oil and gas sector “are well known” thus the principals set out in the Global Pact, such as transparency, can become a reference point to identify whether a company is acting in accordance to social responsibility.

He insisted on the fact that although companies were reluctant towards the Global Pact, it has gained more and more recognition thanks to the Progress Report project, whereby each member informs on the types of SR projects they are carrying out and the progress achieved.

Other topics tackled during this luncheon include climate change and human rights, which were dealt with from a business perspective. Efficiency, part of the solution for climate change, can be achieved more easily when one can count on local support, which is only possible if corporate social responsibility strategies are developed.