Consult, Communicate, Collaborate

This guide from RMI outlines the importance of proactive, two-way engagement with host communities as a universal strategy to derisk energy and infrastructure projects and secure the 'social license' necessary to reach final investment decisions (FID).

• The United States is seeing a massive surge in decarbonization investments, with projections by 2030 including over 900 GW of new solar and wind capacity, nearly $1 trillion in public funding, and over 400,000 jobs across almost every state.
• Energy and infrastructure projects face significant risks during the path to final investment decision (FID), including permitting delays, denials, and appeals, which have recently led to the cancellation of some e-fuels and midstream pipeline projects.
• Proactive and meaningful two-way engagement with host communities is identified as a universal derisking strategy that helps developers secure a 'social license' to operate, ensuring projects stay on schedule for FID and construction.
• Implementing a holistic engagement strategy in collaboration with 'community connectors' and trusted gatekeepers provides a high return on investment (ROI) and increases credibility with investors and offtakers.

APA

Sheerazi, H. (2025). Consult, Communicate, Collaborate. RMI. https://rmi.org/resources/consult-communicate-collaborate/

Chicago

Sheerazi, Hadia. Consult, Communicate, Collaborate. RMI, 2025. https://rmi.org/resources/consult-communicate-collaborate/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Sheerazi |first1=Hadia |title=Consult, Communicate, Collaborate |publisher=RMI |date=17 April 2025 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/consult-communicate-collaborate/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sheerazi2025consult, author = {Sheerazi, Hadia}, title = {{Consult, Communicate, Collaborate}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2025}, month = apr, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/consult-communicate-collaborate/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }