ID: 1952
Presenting Author: Vera Ogorodnikova
Session: 558 - Justice in the Chain: Human Rights and Engagement in Energy Transition
Status: approve
In high-risk extractive settings conflict-sensitive benefit sharing matters. We map impact pathways and show how inclusive engagement can improve social cohesion and lower conflict risk
Renewable energy supply chains increasingly rely on minerals extracted in conflict-affected, high-risk settings. Where governance is contested, access to information is uneven and expectations are high, how projects share benefits can determine if tensions rise or ease. Public trackers show frequent rights allegations and community clashes around transition-mineral sites, underscoring the need for conflict-sensitive benefit sharing.
This presentation examines how benefit sharing—through social investment and local content shapes local conflict dynamics in practice, drawing on CIG work in the extractive sector. We discuss three recurring impact pathways.
1. Distributional inequity may lead to perceived injustice, then grievances. When social investments flow through gatekeepers, eligibility is unclear, or project location favors one group, exclusion of minorities, women, youth, and IDPs can trigger collective grievances.
2.Inclusive design with reconciliation features can build cross group contact, which reduces misinformation and tension. Co-governed initiatives such as mixed training cohorts, shared facilities, or youth programs combined with purposeful, transparent and targeted engagement, e.g. minority-language messages, improve perceived fairness and enable participation.
3.Local content can increase competition for scarce opportunities and heighten social tension. When hiring and procurement is run from distant hubs, residency rules are unclear, and a few intermediaries control access, marginalized groups’ expectations go unmet, which can be viewed as exclusion.
Vera is the Advisory Service Manager at CIG with 20 years of expertise in social performance management and capacity building for international energy, mining and infrastructure businesses.