Abstract
Based on negotiations of compensation and reparation for environmental damage in the State of Rio de Janeiro-Brazil, this paper deals with the role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as main strategic instrument to set up a relationship among State, businesses and the civil society in the process of licensing and deploying gas pipelines. In this kind of process, some cultural aspects, such as a social pattern based in philanthropy and paternalism, make difficult for any agreement to be reached among the stakeholders. Moreover, the risk of environmental corruption demands a really special care. As a result, the process of licensing becomes slow and fragile. In some cases, negotiation ends up unsuccessful. This particular model coexists with an imperious need for investments in energy, leading to a hard contradiction between a traditional behavior and the surge of modern consumerism habits. Besides, local legislation and bureaucracy allow for few or no options to solve the conflict. In this context, as will be seen, CSR is a preferential way to establish fruitful dialog. It was used to make easy deployment of two gas pipelines across 15 cities in the State of Rio de Janeiro. By means of Corporate Social Investments (CSI), breaking communication barriers and providing alternatives to solve the original contradiction, it is possible to create a common experience of local development among entrepreneurs, state and community.
