"Consultation with local communities in Bolivia", 2 July 2015

In 2014, BG Group signed the exploration contract for the Huacareta licence block in Southern Bolivia. Under Bolivian law, all oil and gas companies running exploration projects in the country must carry out public consultation with the local communities affected during the Environmental permitting process...BG Group’s approach started before the environmental process and has been to go well beyond this minimum legal requirement, given that consultation is very important for information disclosure, impact management and for laying the foundations for a positive relationship between us and the communities where we work...We conducted an assessment to build our understanding of the social context, based on secondary research, and developed a stakeholder map. We developed an engagement strategy focused on effective information disclosure, and, importantly, ‘participatory’ consultation...A key challenge is to ensure that we use the feedback received from communities and address their concerns around the impact of our activities. As a result, we are drafting Social Performance Management Plans with our contractors with the aim of addressing community concerns and in order to continue to build a strong relationship with the local communities in Huacareta.