Engaging communities

Engaging with communities is an important part of our approach to managing human rights and providing access to remedy.

Community engagement helps us design better projects, comply with social and environmental regulations and align with international standards, including those from the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation.

Complaints reported globally in 2019 [A]

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[A] Chart excludes clusters of complaints regarding earthquakes in the Netherlands, which are managed outside of Shell.
[B] Social category includes labour and local content.

Social complaints received in 2019

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Environmental complaints received in 2019

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The community feedback mechanisms implemented in our major operations and projects allow us to receive, track and respond to questions and complaints from community members. Our network of around 100 community liaison officers acts as a bridge between the local community and the business.

In Berat, southern Albania, our activities increased traffic, resulting in dust pollution and health concerns for the local community. Shell set up a community centre with a community liaison officer, who brought the concerns to the attention of leaders in Shell’s upstream organisation in Albania.

The team implemented three initiatives: traffic-calming measures, dust suppression using environmentally friendly chemicals and additional watering to minimise the impact of dust on local communities. After the community centre was set up, the time it took to resolve complaints decreased from 33 to eight days.

In 2018, Karachaganak Petroleum Operating B.V. (KPO) (Shell interest 29.25%) completed the physical resettlement of 464 families in north-west Kazakhstan. Community liaison officers continue to use the community feedback mechanism to address issues related to the new housing. In 2019, KPO received 189 complaints and suggestions from the residents, including requests for additional soil for their back gardens so that they could grow vegetables. KPO coordinated the home repairs and supplied 375 trucks of soil.

In 2019, Shell developed a tool to check if our community feedback mechanisms were fully effective according to the UN Guiding Principles. The tool was used to assess where additional support was needed and laid out plans for improvements in 2020.