Environmental NGOs in World Politics : Linking the Local and the Global

Examines the importance of NGOs in world environmental politics. Four case studies, including the ivory trade ban and Great Lakes water negotiations, detail how NGOs challenge the traditional structures of world politics.

At a time when states are reactive, at best, to the global ecological crisis and when economic globalization seems to be significantly contributing to the acceleration of that crisis, environmental non-governmental orgainisations (NGOs) are proliferating. This book explains the key role of NGOs in an emerging world environmental politics, showing how NGOs act both as independent bargainers and as agents of social learning, to link biophysical conditions to the political realm at both the local and global levels.
Throught the use of case studies the authors reveal the richness and diversity of NGO activity and the dificulty of the choices facing decision-makers in their attempts to protect the environment, seek new forms of governance and foster social environmental learning. The book generates questions that are central, not only to an understanding of NGO relations, but to the study of international environmental politics.
Environmental NOGs in World Politics will be of great interest to upper level student sand scholars of both environmental politics and international relations. It will also appeal to environmental-policy professionals.