Making a positive contribution to society and the communities we work within is a major ambition for Capricorn. This includes a commitment to respecting and protecting human rights.
We support and safeguard a number of local communities within which we operate, not only investing in local skills, recruitment and procurement, but supporting the well-being and needs of current and future generations.
READ MORE ABOUT OUR SOCIETY FOCUS IN OUR SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
Objectives
Our key environmental objectives are:
- Maintain our licence to operate, and
- Provide a safe and healthy working environment.
We have identified three material issues that direct our focus within this arena.
We aim to safeguard the human rights of people working for and with Capricorn, as well as those whose lives we impact. We support the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and identify and assess the potential internal and external risks of human rights transgressions within our sphere of influence, including suppliers and contractors. Human Rights and Modern Slavery training is provided to all of our employees, highlighting our zero tolerance of modern slavery and human trafficking in all its forms.
Our commitment to operating responsibly is fundamental to our ethos and includes supporting, protecting and engaging with our local communities. We also conduct Social Impact Assessments to analyse the potential impact our operations may have on a community. We want to demonstrate participation and contribution to the social and economic fabric of those communities, engaging with them to understand their needs, while helping a number of community projects with resources and financial support.
We are committed to investing in local skills, recruitment and procurement, helping make a positive impact to the economies of communities we work within. This includes providing employment opportunities for local people that not only supports Capricorn’s immediate needs but gives those individuals skills and experience to use throughout their working life. We also have a number of programmes to provide University students with access to the skills and education they need and/or financial assistance to support them on their courses.
More detailed information can be found on all of our material issues in our Sustainability Report.
Case Study
Community Liaison Officer field work in Egypt
Engaging a Community Liaison Officer
(CLO) was a key tenet of our SMP for
both seismic acquisition programmes
in Egypt in 2022. The CLO is our eyes
and ears within the community, helping us build an accurate picture of what is happening on the ground.
We appointed an experienced CLO named Mohamed Abd El Hady. Mohamed’s key responsibilities were implementing the SEP in the field – regularly meeting with any local community persons and the seismic workforce to understand any concerns they might have, share project information and share with them Capricorn’s grievance mechanism, as well as helping to manage any potential grievances. Mohamed captured all activity through daily reports which were fed back to both the Cairo and Edinburgh teams. A key concern was also around land access.
Whilst population distribution in the Western Desert is sparse and there were no communities within our areas of activity, part of Mohamed’s role was to conduct scouting trips of the areas to be surveyed in advance of the seismic trucks and personnel. These scouting trips were to identify in advance any water wells or agricultural holdings which would require engagement with owners or potential compensation activity.
Case Study
Al Amal Geoscience Graduate Training Programme
Capricorn Energy has a long history of supporting students within the geoscience sector and has extended this commitment through sponsorship of the annual Al Amal graduate programme in Egypt.
Al Amal, which means ‘hope’ in Arabic, is an initiative between the Egyptian Petroleum Exploration Society and the Egyptian Geophysical Society and seeks to bridge the gap between academic learning and industry experience. Now in its thirteenth year, the programme aims to help Egyptian students compete for jobs both locally and globally within the oil and gas sector. This is achieved through sector-specific courses and field trips to develop an understanding of the exploration-production cycle and by providing opportunities to develop more personal skills such as English and CV writing.
The graduates are taught by local professionals from the sector, which this year included Capricorn Energy’s Eleanor Rowley, Managing Director Egypt, and Mohammed ElTonbary, Deputy Exploration Manager, Bapetco. As well as sharing experience to help support the graduates’ learning, Capricorn Energy’s sponsorship also includes the provision of intern placements and the future hosting of visits to operations for Al Amal participants.