This assessment gathers quantitative and qualitative data on a range of factors, including health, education, employment, livelihoods, natural resource use, and access to infrastructure, which together set out the socio-economic circumstances of the affected community.

Generally undertaken by independent experts, the baseline assessment provides a blueprint for the management of all aspects of social performance, helping the Group’s businesses to identify and manage potential risks which could adversely affect the communities involved. In 2009, BG Group completed baseline assessments in six countries.

Social impact assessments identify and understand the potential positive and negative effects of operations upon the people whose lives or livelihoods could be altered in some way as a consequence of the Group’s presence.

Once those effects have been identified, the Group can explore measures that, in consultation with the affected community, will avoid, mitigate or compensate for negative impacts and strategies to create or enhance opportunities for host community benefit emerging from its activities. The impact assessment also outlines the regulatory and policy framework that needs to be taken into account in determining the most appropriate approach to managing the effects of the Group’s activities on local communities.

Our baseline assessment in Trinidad and Tobago provided detailed information relating to the development priorities of local communities living in the Central Block concession area.

The assessment has informed the development of a strategic social investment programme and an approach to hiring local people for certain projects planned for 2011.

A team of international and local consultants spent several weeks engaging with people from different groups within the local community.

The area had previously been dependent on the local sugar cane industry. That industry had closed down earlier in the decade, leading to local underemployment, reduced income levels, and negative effects on youth development and social structures; the assessment concluded that this has led to a breakdown of social values and community cohesion.

BG Trinidad and Tobago is now developing a plan to establish a community centre as a venue for further social investment activities aimed at enhancing community cohesion and addressing local employment issues. The centre will also serve as a local recruitment hub to connect local people with opportunities to work with BG Trinidad and Tobago on development projects.

In 2008, we reported that in Egypt we worked with the World Fish Centre (an international NGO focused on the role of fisheries and aquaculture in reducing poverty) to gain a fuller understanding of the effects of our activities on the shoreline community close to the Idku gas hub.

The community is largely dependent on small-scale fishing or farming with very few alternative employment opportunities. This was a source of concern to many locals, particularly younger people.

The baseline assessment has enabled BG Egypt to identify the scope of future social investment activities in the area and to focus on increasing the ability of the Idku community to adapt to the pressures on their current livelihoods by broadening options to earn money from new sources.

The World Fish Centre also conducted a social impact assessment on behalf of one of the Group’s joint venture partners who are planning to construct an offshore pipeline to an onshore gas processing plant. This assessment was funded and managed by BG Egypt as part of a wider goal to persuade all of the Idku partners to reflect the Group’s commitment to understand and manage the impacts of project activities.

In Bolivia, the Group has recently completed a baseline assessment focused on the Weenhayek indigenous communities in whose territory we operate. External consultants retained by BG Group conducted:

• workshops in 27 of the 33 Weenhayek communities;
• a number of focus group meetings; and
• interviews with members of different community groupings, including teachers, health workers and younger people.

This work provided important insights into the way the local community is organised, their economic objectives, the status of basic infrastructure and development needs and the mechanisms used to reach decisions within the community.

It also highlighted historical and contemporary factors behind internal social conflicts as well as the nature of the communities’ relationships with governments, companies, NGOs and other external bodies.

The baseline assessment has just been completed, and its conclusions will be shared with each Weenhayek community during 2010. It will be used to refine the Group’s approach to community engagement and will inform the processes we follow to secure agreement with the Weenhayek on project development, land access and other matters.

The baseline assessment will also help shape our approach to social investment.

Involuntary resettlement refers to both physical displacement (relocation or loss of shelter) and economic displacement (loss of assets or access to resources that leads to loss of income or livelihood) as a result of project-related land acquisition. Resettlement is considered involuntary when individuals or communities do not have the right to refuse land acquisition.

Our guidelines follow the IFC Performance Standard 5 on Involuntary Resettlement. Our Social Performance (SP) Standard requires the preparation of a Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) when a resettlement is triggered as a result of our presence.

BG Tunisia is currently in the process of resettling 12 households due to their proximity to the Hasdrubal gas plant, which commenced operations in December 2009. The resettlement is being managed to IFC and BG Group standards.

The resettlement process started in 2006. Identifying and acquiring land that was acceptable to those being resettled proved complex, leading to delays in the Resettlement Action Plan schedule. The families involved were moved to temporary housing until their new properties were constructed. This was a difficult process, requiring trust, patience and hard work for both parties to reach agreement on how the process should work. Construction of the new houses began in March 2009, and all families had moved in to their new houses by March 2010.

Our Social Performance (SP) Standard recognises that indigenous communities and other vulnerable groups are often marginalised by other members of the population. Where we have identified that indigenous people are living or working within a project’s area of direct or indirect influence, our standard stipulates that we follow the IFC Performance Standard 7 on Indigenous Peoples. Where it is not clear whether communities within our area of operations may include indigenous people, we appoint an expert to define the status of such communities.

Our SP Standard requires that, where indigenous people are potentially affected by a project, there must be an Indigenous People Plan to address the specific community relationship risks that arise.

We received a request from the Bolivian government to share international experience on compensation and benefits sharing agreements for indigenous people to help inform the development of draft regulations. We conducted workshops with government officials; then commissioned a study by external experts to provide comparative insights into approaches in different jurisdictions in both the developed and developing world.

The study detailed the procedures used by a wide range of indigenous people and extractive industry companies to reach agreement on and implement effective sharing of benefits and the allocation of compensation payments.

The Bolivian government has indicated that they will use this study as a resource document to inform the drafting of future Bolivian regulations.

Our Social Performance (SP) framework recognises both tangible and intangible forms of cultural heritage:

• tangible cultural heritage includes sites believed by communities to have archaeological or historical value or environmental features that embody spiritual and cultural values; and
• intangible cultural heritage includes knowledge and practices within communities embodying traditional lifestyles.

Our SP Standard requires BG Group projects to identify areas believed by communities to represent important aspects of their cultural heritage, and where appropriate prepare a Cultural Heritage Management Plan in line with the requirements of IFC Performance Standard 8.