Energy Sovereignty and Corporate Social Responsibility

Edgar Bellow, Lotfi Hamzi, Huai-Yuan Han 
(NEOMA Business School, France)

Abstract: This paper will examine how corporate social responsibility (CSR), specifically related to the challenges of climate change, is integrated in oil and gas business models using a stakeholder theory approach. The paper will draw upon a case study of the Canadian oil and gas industry, looking at multinational corporations’ institutional pressures with respect to stakeholders, and challenges to their legitimacy, in Canada in comparison to MNC oil and gas operations elsewhere. The Arctic environmental region is home to Canada’s most significant reserves of hydrocarbons, oil and gas, but changes which are being exacerbated by shifts in the earth’s climate will ultimately make the environmental planning process more challenging for companies looking to expand their interests in the Arctic and for the sovereignty debates over land claims and land use. This is not only true because of the changes in the environment itself, but because of the effects of these changes on First Nations communities. This paper will show that long-term changes in environmental frameworks are one of the reasons why cumulative and collaborative CSR efforts are warranted in order to ensure that there is a balance between the interests of different parties. This will be achieved through a project development framework linked to a CSR approach grounded in stakeholder stewardship, rather than self-interest, that recognizes multiple levels of sovereignty in the control and use of resources.

Key words: energy sovereignty; CSR; MNC; stakeholder stewardship; artic; first nations

JEL codes: J18, J38, J71, N52, N72, O13, P48, Q15, Q48, Q56, Q58