Community impacts and relationships

Our approach to managing local community impacts consists of several core elements, including adhering to corporate policies and expectations, applying national laws and universally recognized principles, assessing risks and opportunities, engaging with external groups, and building local economic capacity. At ExxonMobil, we call this socioeconomic management. This area encompasses several distinct topics, including human rights, labor and workplace rights, economic development, cultural heritage, land use, social and environmental considerations, treatment of communities and indigenous peoples, security, and relationships with host-country governments.

For major upstream projects, the ExxonMobil Development Company applies its Upstream Socioeconomic Management Standard. As project teams apply our Operations Integrity Management System, the Standard provides guidance specific to key socioeconomic issues that should be identified and addressed throughout the upstream resource development life cycle, including:

• Consultation with relevant communities, government officials, and appropriate stakeholder organizations to share information, solicit feedback, and respond to expressed concerns;
• Identification of potential issues including, but not limited to, the management of cultural and heritage properties, interaction with indigenous or vulnerable populations, involuntary resettlement, compensation, employment and training, and the procurement of goods and services; and,
• Development of appropriate prevention (or enhancement), control, mitigation, and monitoring strategies related to potential socioeconomic impacts.

In 2010, the upstream companies formed a socioeconomics task force to assess current processes for planning and implementing socioeconomic management programs in new ventures. The task force developed recommendations to standardize and integrate approaches, tools, and organization into existing business systems. One outcome was the decision to include Socioeconomic Principles to guide our approach in several social areas. We believe further refinement of the Management Standard will help our contractors, partners, and employees to better execute upstream projects consistently with our company values and, as such, help us maintain our license to operate.

Impact assessment and mitigation
We recognize our activities can impact host communities and other stakeholders. We strive to identify and avoid or mitigate negative impacts and enhance positive outcomes. At the start of major projects, an Environmental, Socioeconomic, and Health Impact Assessment (ESHIA) is conducted to assess the potential impacts of our activities throughout the project and operations life cycle. We consult with the public during the ESHIA process and integrate results into decision making, including impact avoidance and mitigation plans, and in some cases, modifying aspects of the project design or execution plan.