Legitimacy, credibility and trust as the key components of a Social Licence to operate : An analysis of BP’s projects in Georgia

We consider the extent to which the concept of Social Licence to Operate can be applied in actual practice by considering BP's activities in Georgia, especially the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Southern Caucasus Pipeline projects. We adapt the model originally developed by Thomson and Boutilier, particularly by further elaborating their three underlying concepts: legitimacy, credibility and trust. We discuss BP's activities in relation to each of these concepts to determine: (1) whether the adapted model can provide practical and useful results in assessing the SLO of project proponents; and (2) if it is found to be useful, what level of SLO has BP achieved for its projects in Georgia. We conclude that the revised Social Licence framework can be usefully applied and BP has achieved at least an ‘acceptance’ level from the local community. We also draw lessons from BP's experience that can be utilized elsewhere and in the future.