Social licence in principle and practice: industrial decarbonisation in regional clusters

Securing a social licence to operate (SLO) for novel technologies to decarbonise energy-intensive industrial processes in line with the Paris Agreement hinges on their perception as credible and legitimate solutions for climate change mitigation. This will depend on mutual trust between industry, government and civil society actors at different scales, with a broad alignment of these diverse perspectives around a common intent. This research extends the SLO framework and its application in three ways. Firstly, at a conceptual level, by considering how an SLO may be interpreted for a combination of technologies designed to deliver decarbonisation across different new and existing industries. Secondly, engaging with professional stakeholders and local publics in the Northwest and Humber clusters in the UK to examine how the SLO is evolving for industrial decarbonisation in principle, as part of national climate strategy, and as ‘real-world’ implementation begins in practice. Thirdly, an outline heuristic is proposed to inform how the legitimacy, credibility and trust associated with ID processes in different contexts might be improved in support of a stronger SLO. Drawing on experience of developing new infrastructure within the UK clusters, this research provides transferable insights which can inform the global deployment of ID technologies. As a SLO is emerging for the use of ID technologies in principle, and as projects become closer to deployment, whether its delivery is seen as credible and legitimate in practice, with sufficient trust within the cluster to instil confidence in construction and operation phases remains uncertain. • Industrial decarbonisation (ID) entails a collection of technologies and industries. • ID needs Social Licence to Operate (SLO) for technology deployment at diverse scales. • The paper introduces the notion of SLO for ID in principle and in practice. • Technology to sustain industry and climate goals requires SLO in principle. • Components of ID implemented in a particular place require SLO in practice .