scholarly journals Protests, Regulations, and Environmental Accountability in Cambodia

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sokphea Young
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Protest Movements ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Environmental Deterioration ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Foreign Corporations ◽  
Perceived Challenge

In the realm of global environmental governance, accountability has been key to the debate concerning pervasive environmental deterioration. Among the factors underlying this deterioration, a perceived challenge is the lack of clear mechanisms for identifying to whom the actors in environmental governance in general, and in other sectors, for example, hydropower, agricultural land, mining, and infrastructure in particular, are accountable to for their actions. To investigate the challenge of this situation, this article explores the ways in which the protest movements of grass-roots communities and non-governmental organizations endeavour to hold government and foreign corporations accountable for the actions they have taken which have contributed to environmental degradation in Cambodia. Drawing on two case studies, this article argues that these protest movements have played an increasing role in requiring environmental accountability from both government and corporations.

NGO’s Authority: A Discussion in the Global Environmental Governance

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-97
Author(s):  
Xiaolong Zou ◽  
Chuan Wang
Keyword(s):  
Global Governance ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
International System ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Global Environmental Governance ◽  
Sociological Institutionalism ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Important Position

As non-governmental organizations (NGOs) assume incrementally important roles in global environmental governance, literature regarding their functions also multiplies. Studies are available about their features, structural advantages or impacts. However, very few have sufficiently explained what makes them tick in the international system as non-state actors. In this article, we argue that NGOs’ important position in global governance lies in its authority. We build our analysis on sociological institutionalism and the principal–agent models, arguing that NGOs are independent and autonomous with both inherent authority and granted authority by sovereign states or inter-governmental organizations (IGOs). It is through this authority that NGOs could function independently and autonomously in global governance instead of being the affiliated or appendant actors of parties. To shed some new light on understanding NGOs in the international system from a theoretical perspective, we employ cases from environmental governance domain as evidence for illustration.

Women in Southern Africa: A Note on the Zimbabwean “Success Story”

1989 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 26-28
Author(s):  
Patricia A. Made ◽  
Nyorovai Whande
Keyword(s):  
Southern Africa ◽  
African Women ◽  
Women's Clubs ◽  
Success Story ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
Center Stage ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
The World ◽  
The Common

Five years ago, women in Africa moved to the center stage of the continent. The U.N. Decade for Women Conference held in Nairobi brought together women from all over the world to exchange ideas and discuss future strategies. African women turned out for the meeting in force. Women representing governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and grass-roots women's clubs converged on Nairobi to tell their story to other women in the common struggle for equality, justice and peace.

scholarly journals Information brokerage in Caribbean coral reef governance networks

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 284-294
Author(s):  
Rachel A Turner ◽  
Johanna Forster ◽  
Angelie M Peterson ◽  
Robin Mahon ◽  
Clare Fitzsimmons
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Reef Management ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Governance Networks ◽  
Caribbean Coral Reef

SummaryPoor connectivity between diverse resource users and complex wider governance networks is a challenge in environmental governance. Organizations that ‘broker’ interactions among these relationships are expected to improve governance outcomes. Here, we used semi-structured interviews and social network analysis to identify actors in positions to broker coral reef-related information to and from resource users and to assess the performance of these brokers. Representatives (n = 262) of actor groups were interviewed, including local and national government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community organizations and resource user groups from 12 communities across four Caribbean countries, to map information-sharing networks and to identify brokers. Broker performance was assessed through separate interviews with coral reef resource users (n = 545). The findings show that marine NGOs were the highest-functioning brokers. Where such local-level organizations were absent, government agencies in reef management roles acted as brokers, but their performance was lower. Actors in brokerage positions did not always effectively share information, with broker performance being positively correlated with network brokerage scores. The results further our understanding of the roles of brokers in different governance contexts. Identifying those in brokerage positions and supporting their roles in connecting local resource users to wider governance networks could encourage functional brokerage and enhance reef management outcomes.

Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations and Russian Environmental Governance: Accountability, Participation and Collaboration

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Sofronova ◽  
Cameron Holley ◽  
Vijaya Nagarajan
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Governance ◽  
The State ◽  
Collaborative Relationship ◽  
Accountability Measures ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Effective Role ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis article examines the role of environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) in Russia and the impact of tightening governmental accountability measures. Drawing on 18 interviews conducted in 2012–13 with Russian and international ENGOs, the article examines three key governance issues, namely: the collaborative relationship between the state and ENGOs, the impact of accountability measures on ENGO activities, and the relationships between ENGOs themselves. The findings reveal that ENGOs maintain a legitimate and effective role within Russian environmental governance. However, their legitimacy and success is significantly limited and threatened by increasing accountability measures and state actions. The article accordingly identifies a number of recommendations for increasing the likelihood of successful ENGO action in Russian environmental governance, including improving ENGO collaboration with the state and resolving tensions between participation and accountability.

scholarly journals How REDD+ Is Performing Communities

Forests ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 638 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Skutsch ◽  
Esther Turnhout
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Governance ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Forest Degradation ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Critical Social Science ◽  
Social Units

Community based approaches are becoming the norm in environmental governance initiatives. One prominent example of this is Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+), a climate change mitigation strategy that aims at reducing carbon emissions caused by deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries. REDD+ policies generally evoke communities as both potential beneficiaries of REDD+ and as agents for its implementation. However, it is unclear what REDD+ policies are really referring to when they talk about communities. Drawing on critical social science literature about the idea of community, this article advances a performative perspective to analyze how communities are articulated in international and national REDD+ policy, and reflects on the potential implications of these articulations. Results reveal that international policy documents, including those of the major non-governmental organizations (NGOs) engaged in REDD+, tend to present an interpretation that corresponds to Agrawal and Gibson’s myth of communities as small, localized, and homogenous social units that share social norms. On the other hand, national policy documents reveal enormous variety in the communities that are actually targeted in national REDD+ policies in terms of resources, governance structure, and social cohesion. One conclusion that could be drawn from this is that the dominant uniform interpretation of communities in REDD+ policy, and in much academic and NGO literature, is clearly unrealistic. However, this does not mean that it is inconsequential. We conclude our article by discussing the performative effects of the identified articulations of community.

COP-15 in Copenhagen: How the Merging of Movements Left Civil Society Out in the Cold

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 11-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana R. Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Environmental Politics ◽  
Climate Regime ◽  
Climate Negotiations ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Global Environmental Politics ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Global Environmental

What happened to non-governmental organizations' participation at the COP-15 round of climate negotiations in Copenhagen? Although the climate regime has been seen as relatively open to civil society, everything changed in Copenhagen and civil society became increasingly disenfranchised. This article discusses the three main forces that led to civil society's disenfranchisement at this round of the climate negotiations: increased registration, poor planning by the Danish organizers and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat, and the merging of movements. I conclude by discussing implications of the increase in civil society disenfranchisement to the climate regime and to the study of global environmental politics more broadly.

Ohmage to Resistance

2001 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronnie D. Lipschutz
Keyword(s):  
International Institutions ◽  
Democratic Deficit ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Forestry Practices ◽  
Global Environmental Politics ◽  
Institutional Frameworks ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Global And Local

This essay disputes the arguments made by Robert Paehlke and John Dryzek in their contributions to this issue of Global Environmental Politics. Both reform and resistance are necessary, but not sufficient, elements in collective efforts to facilitating global and local environmental protection and sustainable development. What is essential, as well, are campaigns to establish alternative institutional frameworks for the fulfillment of these goals. This essay suggests that initiatives such as those found around the issue of sustainable forestry practices might be the basis for such frameworks and, in the long run, could pressure both capital and governments to agree on strengthened and effective systems of public environmental regulation. The essay also notes the so-called democratic deficit among non-governmental organizations and movements, but questions whether there is any democracy among capitals and international institutions.

scholarly journals Environmental Public Interest Litigation in China: A Critical Examination

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Lei Xie ◽  
Lu Xu
Keyword(s):  
Public Interest ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Noise Pollution ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Litigation Risk ◽  
Public Interest Litigation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations

Abstract Environmental public interest litigation (EPIL) by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) emerged in China over the last decade amidst the growing focus on environmental issues and the increasing political need to bring greater public participation to the area. This article examines the current practice of EPIL by NGOs in order to understand the potential flaws and deficiencies of NGO participation in this relatively new field of environmental litigation. The article sets out by exploring EPIL as a legal pathway for the public to become involved in China's environmental governance. It then analyzes the legal provision of environmental litigation in China before critically examining several instances of EPIL initiated by NGOs between 2015 and 2019. The article finds that NGOs show weaknesses in their current EPIL practice, including in case selection and litigation risk assessment, but are willing to test and potentially expand the scope of EPIL into new areas of environmental protection such as noise pollution and renewable energy. It concludes that these weaknesses and strengths of NGO involvement in EPIL reflect the constantly evolving landscape of environmental governance and environmental litigation in China.

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