Not long ago, there was heavy skepticism
around the idea of private industries involving themselves in global and
sustainable development. When companies invested in corporate social
responsibility, many viewed it as a for-profit public relations stunt. “CSR as
PR” was the tagline often bandied about.
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| In Indonesia, Chevron built and sponsors two polytechnic schools. |
But
recently, that image has been reversed. Last month, U.N. Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon highlighted business as a “force for good” during a speech before the
General Assembly for the 5 years of the U.N.
Global Compact, which has been dubbed the world’s largest corporate
sustainability initiative.
The
Africa Progress Panel, led by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and
featuring some of today’s most prominent African leaders, such as Graça Machel
and Olusegun Obasanjo, also highlighted the leading role of the private sector
in their 2015 Africa Progress Report. Calling
for African governments to prioritize the development of balanced
public-private partnerships and expand private investment, the report noted how
business leaders have a responsibility now to join governments, religious
leaders and other key partners “to create an irresistible force for change to
win the war against poverty and avert climate catastrophe.”
However,
often overlooked in these discussions are the companies who have been doing
this work all along. Devex recently caught up with Steve Green, Chevron’s vice
president for policy, government and public affairs. Chevron was an active member in the
development of the groundbreaking 2013 report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies that
explored how the U.S. government and private sector could work together to
support the economic success of developing countries. More recently, they
helped open the CSIS Global Development Forum 2015,
focused on leveraging multistakeholder partnerships for effective and
sustainable development.
During
the discussion, Green talked about how public opinion of private sector
development has changed over the years and how business is making a positive
impact in communities around the world. Here are excerpts from that talk.
In the past, it seemed as though global
development fell more within the purview of governments, nongovernmental
organizations and donor agencies. Why do you think the private sector is now
taking such a high profile interest in these matters?
I’m
not sure whether we can rightly say that businesses are just now taking an
interest in matters of development. At Chevron, for example, we’ve played a
very active role in development for quite a long time. In our view, healthy and
stable communities are much better business environments than communities that
are in constant turmoil. Knowing this, Chevron’s approach has long been to
engage and invest in the communities where we do business and try to improve
the lives of people in those communities by virtue of our being there.
I
tend to think that the change is more about the increased publicity around
development today compared to the past. I’ve been in this industry for 35
years, and in the early part of my career you didn’t often hear companies like
Chevron talk about the social responsibility aspect of their business, even
though we were involved in it. But in the last 10 or 15 years, as publicity
around development increased and stakeholder interest in corporate social
responsibility and social investments increased alongside it, we’ve seen
companies like ours do a better job of sharing the true value they bring to the
communities in which they work, helping to create prosperity far beyond just
the energy, products or revenue they create.
But
we also recognize that we can’t do it alone. At Chevron, it’s our fundamental
belief that development is not the purview of any one sector. Instead, we think
it’s best to take a partnership approach, with companies bringing their unique
talents and skill sets to address the very large challenges development presents.
We have very close and long partnerships with agencies like [the U.S. Agency for International Development],
NGOs, and with the national governments and local leaders where we work. We
know that we can bring skills to the table like engineering project management
and capital management, while others bring expertise in areas like health and
education.
How can public-private partnerships help
advance common development goals and maximize impact?
We
all have the same objective, which is to make a positive difference to help
solve the large societal challenges facing much of the world today. By working
together and leveraging our respective core competencies and skill sets, we
have a far better chance of achieving this goal.
Chevron’s
experience in Indonesia after the 2004 earthquake and tsunami is a good example
of this. After the tsunami hit Aceh, the devastation was almost indescribable.
Chevron — which has been operating in the country since the 1950s — immediately
offered emergency relief, sending people, equipment and expertise to the areas
worst hit. But because of our commitment to the country and its people, we also
wanted to find a way to return the community to a more stable and sustainable
path. Working closely with the Indonesian government, USAID and several other
NGOs, we realized we could help revitalize the education sector by establishing
a polytechnic university in the region.
Chevron
knows a lot about building infrastructure and project management, but education
is not one of our core skills. When it came to working on the project, we
focused our efforts on our specific competencies and brought in experts to help
with other aspects of the project, like curriculum development, recruiting
teachers and procuring equipment. In 2009, I had the pleasure of participating
in the graduation of our very first class. It was thrilling to see how proud
the community was of their graduates and the institution we had established.
The polytechnic continues to thrive today and is very well-attended and
well-funded. It’s a very successful model because it’s not dependent on
continuous funding or support from Chevron or USAID or any other organization.
That’s how we’re able to maximize our impact, by working together to create
projects that are sustainable in their own right.
What role do you see American companies
in particular playing in the global sustainable development landscape?
Living
in Asia and managing Chevron’s business in the region for eight years taught me
a lot about how American businesses and citizens in particular are perceived.
I’ve seen that our influence on rule of law and transparency goes far beyond
our business contracts. Our influence is demonstrated on a daily basis in how
we conduct ourselves and how we do business. That experience really reinforced
for me the value of engagement, transparency and collaboration with local
communities, host governments and other local stakeholders.
When
we start work in a new country, one of the things we seek to transfer to our
government partners, our communities, and our local employees is that we
strongly believe the path to long-term success is conducting our business in a
responsible, transparent and ethical manner. Successful companies like Chevron
are built on those values, and successful societies with welcoming business
environments should be built on the same.
It
doesn’t mean that we don’t have challenges or pressures to do things
differently or in ways that might conflict with those values. But by
demonstrating our commitment to conducting business responsibly, even in the
face of these pressures, we help elevate the conduct of all those with whom we
interact and do business. That’s where we really positively influence the
communities in which we work.
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