The threat of terrorism has emerged as a corporate responsibility issue
for Shell, which has scaled down operations at a fuel depot in the
Philippines due to fears from nearby residents that it could become a
target for bombers.
Shell decided to make changes to the 30-hectare (74-acre) Pandacan site
in a densely populated part of Manila after concerns were voiced by
local community representatives and politicians in the wake of recent
terrorist attacks across the globe.
The site had supplied around half of the country’s fuel. While Shell
considered shutting the depot, it felt this ‘would have a major impact
on the supply and cost of fuel, as well as its safe and efficient
delivery’.
Instead, it has reduced the size of the facility and created a 10-50
metre wide buffer zone between the depot and residential areas. Shell
also asked the University of the Philippines to establish a panel of
environmental health specialists to oversee all testing and remedial
work on or near the site. The company has now created a ‘community
park’ between the facility and nearby homes and held question and
answer meetings with local people.
Sebastian Quiniones, vice president of distribution for Shell
Philippines Petroleum Corporation, said the issue had first emerged
‘following the terrorist attacks in the US’ and that the government of
the Philippines had also ‘raised security and safety concerns about
having a large fuel depot here in central Manila’.
Shell said terrorism had gradually emerged in the past few years as a
corporate responsibility issue for the company. ‘We’ve been happy to do
what was asked of us in Pandacan, but in terms of other areas we are
not at liberty to discuss security details,’ it said. ‘We want to have
good relationships with the communities we operate in, so while there
were obvious financial difficulties with doing what we did in Pandacan,
there were also clear business benefits in terms of our licence to
operate.’
While terrorism has so far rarely featured as a significant element in
the CSR checklists of companies, a 2002 study found that 36 per cent of
264 chief executives from Fortune 1000 companies said their company had
become more conscious of corporate responsibility since the terrorist
outrages of 11 September 2001. Fifty-two per cent felt that more
responsible behaviour on the part of companies could help to reduce
support for terrorist groups, the survey by Jericho Communications, a
public relations agency, found.
Julie McDowell, head of SRI research at Standard Life Investments, told
EP that fund managers have recently become more sensitive to
reputational risks associated with defence company products falling
into the hand of terrorists.
Michael Hopkins, chief executive of the consultancy MHC
International, said that terrorism had brought new social
responsibilities to some companies, but there was a need to keep things
in proportion. ‘Any organization has a security bureaucracy, and
bureaucracies love to expand,’ he said.
