Conceptions of Sustainability and Their Impact on Practices in Oil and Gas Corporations Operating in the Niger Delta

Sustainability is a slippery term which can mean different things to different people. This slipperiness creates challenges in organisations that seem to want to adopt sustainable business practices but make little headway in actually doing so, or at least in providing the evidence that they are doing so. Set against the complex and infamously problematic backdrop of the Niger Delta and in the notoriously difficult to access context of oil and gas corporations operating in this region, this chapter explores the concept of sustainability from the perspective of those working in said corporations. Drawing on data gathered from interviews with both Human Resources (HR) and sustainability professionals, the notion of sustainability is traced through different lines of talk, thought and practice and connected to multiple pressures of both personal and professional experience. In doing so we demonstrate how, without any clear and shared understanding of what sustainability actually means, the concept creates a gap through which good intentions fall. An argument is put forward demonstrating that such a gap can be addressed by examining the interactions within the organisation to achieve an understanding of meanings assigned to sustainability and sustainable business practices in particular, and how these influence employee actions with regard to implementation to achieve sustainability. From the viewpoint of the oil and gas personnel interviewed, we discuss the benefits that are (or can be) obtained by these oil and gas organisations following the implementation of sustainable business practices. We finish the chapter with reflections on the extent to which sustainable development goals (SDGs) could (or should not) form some kind of shared measure and understanding of sustainability such that if sustainable business practices are aligned to the achievement of relevant SDGs, they might help facilitate a more meaningful move towards sustainability.