Growing inclusive business models in the extractive industries: Demonstrating a smart concept to scale up positive social impacts

• Corporate social responsibility policies have failed to deliver on socio-economic goals.
• Inclusive business provides a better model for social licence to operate (SOI).
• Inclusive business approaches have gained momentum in other sectors.
• Inclusive business can also bridge multiple outcomes.
• Few companies in the extractive sector are adopting inclusive business.
• Inclusive business can contribute to long-term sustainability.

This paper introduces an important concept for improving sustainability in the extractive industries: inclusive business. Drawing upon examples of inclusive business, as well as the challenges posed from corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies in the extractive sector aimed at socio-economic goals, this paper shows how inclusive business is a better policy to improve sustainability in the sector. The paper argues that this relatively new concept can deliver more useful results in extractive landscapes for socio-economic development such as diversifying local to regional economies, turning impacted communities into business partners, and facilitating the exit of the extractive industries, whilst at the same time, increasing economic and operational efficiency of the company. Further, inclusive business can be integrated in biodiversity offset policies. It is speculated that inclusive models within the extractive sector have the potential to reach a scale and impact well beyond traditional CSR policies for socio-economic development.