ID: 2254
Presenting Author: Gillian Gregory
Session: 550 - (Re)building trust and transparency to navigate complex energy transitions
Status: pending
Misinformation and limited information in workforce transitions across extractive industries increases socioeconomic risks and exacerbates vulnerabilities. We outline practical mitigations.
As energy and carbon-intensive projects move through closure and transition, misinformation about timelines, retraining, employment, and future opportunities often intensify uncertainty and associated socioeconomic risks. Drawing on practitioner experience in Canada and internationally, this paper examines how misinformation and limited information can undermine workforce transition planning and future regeneration opportunities—fuelling anxieties, false expectations, and sometimes driving community conflict and social division. Case studies from our work demonstrate that unclear, misleading, or infrequent communication has material social and economic effects at local and regional scales, which often compound existing vulnerabilities and can erode trust in industry operators and government organizations. We argue that misinformation or limited information in transition contexts represents a distinct type of socioeconomic impact and propose practical approaches to risk management and impact mitigation. In particular, we highlight opportunities in partnership and co-development approaches with workers and communities. Embedding these practices within transition governance can support informed consultation and participation, strengthen trust, and mitigate social and economic risks associated with (mis)information management.
Gillian Gregory, PhD, is a social performance and mine closure practitioner with more than 14 years’ experience in mining and related extractive sectors in Canada and internationally.
Coauthor 1: Zoe Mullard