Understanding and Ethically Analysing the Social Licence to Operate

What is the Social Licence to Operate (SLO)? How should we think about it from an ethical perspective? What are its ethical promises and risks? This chapter philosophically unpacks these questions, explaining SLO’s ambiguity, dynamism, and variability, but also its strength and importance in responding to contemporary ethical and values-based problems. The chapter provides a definition of SLO focused on community acceptance. It highlights the importance of seeing SLO as a continuum, where increasing social resistance and community disquiet contribute incrementally to undesirable outcomes and operational risk. The chapter explains SLO from an ‘integrity systems’ perspective, highlighting its potential strengths in improving corporate practices and governance – but equally noting its limitations and risks.