The 2nd JOGMEC Carbon Neutral Resources Forum
Speaker: Kirsty Lynch
Topic: Stakeholder Engagement for Carbon Capture and Storage
Recorded live: Tuesday 28 June 2022

My work on CCS…
Head of ESG/ Former Head of Project Communication(Acorn and other development stage CCS/ Hydrogen/
DAC projects)

Public Engagement Manager, Global Carbon Capture andStorage Institute

Stakeholder Engagement and Knowledge Share Manager,
Longannet CCS Project, Scottish Power (Iberdrola)2

A basic stakeholder
engagement strategy
Integrate stakeholder
engagement into projectplanning and decision making
from the outset.

Identify yourstakeholders

Get yourmessengers
right

Understandyourstakeholders

Monitor and adapt engagement approaches
throughout the life of a projectGet yourmessages rightIdentify your stakeholders•

Map, categorise and prioritise
stakeholders as a project team,reinforcing that stakeholder
engagement is everyone’sresponsibility•

Test your outputs with trusted
external stakeholders, use this asa tool to establish strong
relationships•

Stakeholder mapping will evolveand grow over time, don’t over–engineer this, it just needs to befunctional and reviewed
frequently•Simple approaches to mapping:social-site-characterisationconcept-application.pdf(globalccsinstitute.com)

4Understand your stakeholders
What do you want to know?

•What are the local economic conditions anddemographics?

•How familiar is an area with industrial infrastructure
projects?

•

How engaged a community are they?

•

How has the community reacted to environmental
issues in the past?

‘Social site characterisation draws its reference
from the critical role of geological sitecharacterisation for CCS projects, expanding theconcept to suggest that in addition to assessing
the technical and/or physical characteristics of asite, the social (or human) characteristics should
also be considered when selecting and designing
projects.’•

How and where will a project impact a local area/region?

Wade, S., Greenberg, S., Social Site Characterisation: From Concept
to Application, 2011.

•

What is going on, or has gone on, close to a project
site.

•

How are people likely to react to the project and theproject team?

•Who are the people or groups with influence on acommunity

To be useful, social site
information needs to be properly
integrated into project planning
5Get your messages right“The people who endorsed us talked about it (CCS) being a vital tool in the battle against climate change. I don’t thinkthat that kind of argument worked at a local level, within the local community, they didn’t care. We would bring it up
and they would say ‘oh that’s nice for us’”Norm Sacuta, Director of Communication, PTRC, The Weyburn Project, Canada•

Avoid ‘project tunnel vision’ be aware ofyour wider social context•Frame messaging to suit stakeholders•Don’t underestimate the importance oflocal benefits and relationship building•

Don’t assume knowledge, keep
communication simple and visual•

Test your messaging and materials withtrusted stakeholders
A street artist interpretation of the Acorn Project as explainedby local school children from St Fergus Primary School.

6Get your messengers right“It is critically important to understanding where people get their information from... messages from multiple sources
with potentially varying perspectives may carry more weight... ensuring that stakeholders have access to technicalexperts, not just project proponents, to answer questions is important for building trust.”
Illinois State Geological Survey, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory: FutureGen Case Study, 2010

• Who: third party advocates/
critics/ project representatives/
people with similar backgrounds/
experts• How: formal and informal
engagement/ media / social
media/ virtual/ in-person/
conferences/ business sessions• Listening, adapting andadvance warning

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Public acceptance of CCS
Common challenges
CCS is complex, it is perceived to beexpensive, and it is associated with life
extension of fossil fuels
CCS covers a complex group ofstakeholders and has lacked many naturalchampions
CCS is not one simple technology; it ismulti-purpose and it is very hard tovisualise

CCS has a reputation for failure in Europe.

Common success factors• A shared vision across project developers andGovernment and increasingly private investors• Clear cross party political and independent
support, setting CCS in the context of a wider
response to the climate challenge• A multi-layered programme of public
engagement, recognising that these projects are
significant at a national, regional and local level• Comms and stakeholder engagement imbeddedin all project processes and decision making• An early focus on education and outreach andcreating tangible experiences of CCS forstakeholders• Building trust and demonstrating commitment
and transparency to stakeholders

9Thank you
Kirsty Lynch
Kirsty.lynch@storegga.earth

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