Filling the gap? An analysis of non-governmental organizations responses to participation and representation deficits in global climate governance

The involvement of civil society actors such as NGOs is often presented as one possible remedy to shortcomings in the democratic legitimacy and accountability of institutions of earth system governance. This article uses the case of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to show how its constituency of environmental and development NGOs has responded to perceived representation and participation deficits in global climate policy-making. It discusses three types of NGO responses, which could potentially help to bring the voices of affected but marginalized communities to the relevant levels of climate policy-making: firstly, NGO proposals designed to remedy representation inequities among governments; secondly, NGO demands for strengthening opportunities for participation by societal stakeholders at all levels of climate policy-making; and finally, representative practices (based on authorization and accountability) reflected in the NGOs’ own decision-making processes and governance structures. With regard to the first two types of responses, the article finds that the NGOs tend to support broadly similar standards of participation and representation in the climate convention. The analysis of the decision-making processes and governance structure of the Climate Action Network, the constituency focal point for the environment and development NGOs in the climate convention, highlights a number of ways through which the network can legitimately claim to represent a wider constituency. At the same time, however, it is important for NGOs not to underestimate the potential costs of high standards of inclusiveness and representativeness.     

Investigating the Influence of Non-state Actors on Amendments to the CITES Appendices

Abstract

Non-state actors are playing an increasing role in global environmental governance. Elucidating the modalities and implications of this engagement is important to understanding international policy-making processes. CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, is the primary mechanism for regulating international wildlife trade. It functions by listing species in its Appendices with corresponding trade controls. Accurately listing species in the Appendices is therefore fundamental to the Convention’s effectiveness. We investigate the influence of non-state actors on amending the CITES Appendices using an established framework for assessing NGO influence in international environmental negotiations. We find that non-state actors have been successful in issue framing and agenda setting, and in influencing the position of other actors and final decisions. We also find evidence that NGOs have sought to abuse CITES in pursuit of “campaign” victories, including claiming unwarranted victories, thus undermining NGO legitimacy and accountability. We recommend that the CITES parties seek the most robust science to inform decision-making on proposed amendments to the appendices, which should be broadened to include socioeconomic and economic considerations in order that proposals are evaluated in their real-world context. We further recommend that NGOs should seek to fully understand decision-making in the Convention in order to maximise their legitimate contribution to CITES. Further research is needed to fully elucidate the influence of non-state actors in CITES.     

Foreign agents or agents of justice? Private foundations,backlash against non-governmental organizations,and international human rights litigation

The premise of Russia's 2012 “Foreign Agents” Law, one of the first such laws restricting foreign funding for non-governmental organizations (NGOs), is that foreign monies equal foreign agendas. Since then, over 50 countries have adopted similar laws using a similar justification. This paper interrogates this claim of foreign donor influence through examining legal mobilization by human rights NGOs at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). We track donor support for litigation by providing an overview of all foundation grant flows relating to strategic litigation for 2013–2014, and then matching the granting activities of two major U.S. foundations over 14 years to human rights NGO participation in cases before the ECtHR. Further, through case studies of Russian NGOs, we assess the causal role that donor support has played in facilitating their increased involvement in ECtHR litigation. The combined analysis indicates broad patterns of private foundation support to litigating NGOs, but uncovers no evidence that foreign donors were “pushing” NGOs toward litigation as a strategy, but instead more evidence suggesting that NGOs convinced donors to support human rights litigation. Despite the inaccuracy of the justification underpinning Russia's foreign agent law, the law threatens the survival of human rights organizations.     

Rethinking nongovernmental organizations: Neoliberalism, “nonstate” actors,and the politics of recognition in the United States

This article builds on and contributes to the scholarship on social movements and the law by revealing the critical function of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in law and policy in neoliberal times. Building on frame theories in social movement literature, this essay uses the lens of NGO-produced advocacy for binational same-sex couples to consider more broadly the relationship between individual experience, subjectivity, and the discourses and practices employed by NGO actors. It offers an analysis of both how NGOs developed and utilized particular messaging strategies and rhetorical frames to discursively produce a normative image of their constituency, and how constituents navigated and made use of the framing strategies developed by NGOs in their own claims to state rights and recognition. This discussion thus highlights the potentials and the problematics of the NGO model in social movements' efforts toward legal and political change.     

NGOs,international courts,and state backlash against human rights accountability: Evidence from NGO mobilization against Tanzania at the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights

When nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) encounter state resistance to human rights accountability, how do NGOs use international courts for their human rights advocacy strategies? Considering the overlapping phenomena of shrinking civic space within authoritarian, hybrid, and democratically backsliding regimes, and state backlash against international courts, NGOs navigate two potential levels of state backlash against human rights accountability. Building on the interdisciplinary scholarship on legal mobilization, we develop an integrated framework for explaining how states' two-level (domestic and international) backlash tactics can both promote and deter NGOs' strategic litigation at international human rights courts (IHRCs). States' backlash tactics can influence NGOs' opportunities, capacities, and goals for their human rights advocacy, and thus affect whether and how they pursue strategic litigation at IHRCs. We elucidate the value of this framework through case studies of NGOs' litigation against Tanzania at the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, an understudied IHRC. Drawing on an original data set, interviews, and documentation, we process-trace how Tanzania's various backlash tactics influenced whether and how NGOs litigated at the Court. Our framework and analysis show how state backlash against human rights accountability affects NGOs' mobilization at IHRCs and, relatedly, IHRCs' opportunities for influence.     

Production,Distribution and Educational Media

From 1970 to 1990, Yugoslav culture was signed by the tight net of Self-Governed Interest Associations (Samoupravne interesne zajednice, SIZ). Understood as one of ex-Yugoslavia's transient eras, when political control over cultural life was given to the boards of professionals and experts, “SIZ time” provided an ideal base for future development of arts management. This article explores the possibilities of applying the positive experience of the SIZ model, modified by contemporary NGO models, as the possible solution for arts management transition problems in Serbia and the region. I conclude that South European state funding and institutional systems cannot provide adequate support for arts management development, thus projects in this field should be undertaken through NGOs, with additional financial support and coordination from the international community. NGOs and the ex-SIZ system give examples of a positive experience in conducting projects in the field of arts management.     

传统知识保护之争中的非政府组织

由于世界性非政府组织对传统知识保护问题关注不够且与传统知识持有人之间存在摩擦、发展中国家非政府组织又受到数量不多、经费不足的严重制约,故在协助发展中国家推动传统知识的国际保护方面,非政府组织的潜力尚未得到充分开发.发展中国家的当务之急是:加强传统知识保护方面的议题表述模式研究,鼓励本国的土著、本土社区组建非政府组织并与国际性非政府组织展开合作,促进发展中国家非政府组织经费的"开源"与"节流".     

The transnational political criminal nexus of trafficking in women from Ukraine

Throughout the 1990s, tens of thousands of Ukrainian women were trafficked into prostitution. This phenomenon was researched by collecting data through interviews and surveys in Ukraine, media reports, governmental and non-governmental (NGO) reports on trafficking, and participant observation in conferences. Trafficking occurs because of a transnational political criminal nexus, which is comprised of individual criminals, organized crime groups, corrupt police and governmental officials, foreign governments, and NGOs. Traffickers' methods of operation are flexible and adapted to ease of recruiting victims, cooperation of corrupt officials, risk of being detected, and profit. In destination countries, victims are controlled by confiscation of travel and identity documents, debt bondage, threats, and violence. Political components of the nexus include foreign governments that support NGOs that ignore the views of civil society in Ukraine, and instead, support the foreign governments' positions on trafficking and prostitution, resulting in a corruption of civil society. Some foreign governments also support changes in laws that enable a legal flow of women into their sex industries.     

Privatising the green police: the role of NGOs in wildlife law enforcement

This article examines the role of NGOs in wildlife law enforcement, drawing on empirical research conducted within UK environmental law enforcement but also drawing on a review of the academic literature and policy debates concerning NGOs and pressure group activity. It examines the theoretical basis for NGO actions and different policy perspectives, the ideologies employed by NGO's and how these manifest themselves in law enforcement policies and practice. While the focus of this essay is UK and US NGO activity with its professional enforcement activity and policy networks, the impact of wildlife and environmental NGOs is significant in a range of jurisdictions and is a vital component in effective policing of wildlife legislation.     

Policy adoption,legislative developments,and implementation: the resulting global differences among countries in the management of biological resources

Policy adoption and implementation depend on a wide range of considerations that include the level of stakeholder participation and the choice of top-down or bottom-up approaches. The existence of a stakeholder participation platform is often seen as critical to facilitate both adoption and implementation of international treaties. However, it may not automatically lead to improved policy outcomes or legislative effectiveness. This study compares countries with and without stakeholder participation platforms for policy implementation and assesses whether there are differences in their management of biological resources. The study had two goals: (1) examining the adoption and implementation of public policies and legislation at national and local levels within countries; and (2) analyzing the differences between countries that have developed stakeholder participation platforms for sustainable forest management. Data were obtained from the Global Forest Resources Assessment Report 2015 of the Food and Agricultural Organization. Cross-tabulation and independent sample t test findings show strong relationships at higher levels of government between countries, but weak relationships at local levels. Significant differences are observed at all levels. These results shed light on the severe challenges that governments face in adopting global environmental policies and passing them down to local levels for implementation. The study concludes that although excellent policies and regulations may exist, they often do not lead to significantly better outcomes at all levels of government.

     

Guidelines for international forensic bio-archaeology monitors of mass grave exhumations

The systematic exhumation of mass graves is becoming a frequent occurrence globally. Historically, it has been mostly anthropologists with their particular expertise in osteology that have been engaged by non-governmental organizations (NGO) to monitor mass grave exhumations and postmortem examinations, conducted by a host country or international forensic team, to ensure competence and a concern for justice. The excavation of graves and examination of their contents for the purposes of personal identification of victims and/or collection of evidence for prosecution require the creation of standards that meet international concerns for forensic investigation of the highest quality. However, many anthropologists are not experienced with large sites; do not have much, if any, expertise in archaeology; and are not equipped by training to assess the quality of a forensic pathologist's autopsy. This contribution is directed to both the NGO and the bio-archaeologist who are involved in the exhumation of mass graves. The experience and skills appropriate for the bio-archaeological monitor are outlined; similarly, the policies and standard operating procedures (SOP's) of the NGO that will enable the bio-archaeologist to perform their task are detailed. It is becoming increasingly clear that how a grave site was created, filled, and concealed, along with subsequent processes of site formation (e.g. slumping, robbing, animal scavenging and taphonomic alteration), require the expertise of a forensic archaeologist to discover and record site complexity along with associated forensic evidence. Similarly, the bodies themselves which are often skeletonized, fragmented and commingled pose challenges for the anthropologists and pathologists whose postmortem examinations must be critically evaluated. A model protocol for observations to make at the site as well as at the mortuary facility is provided to guide the monitor and to provide a structure for reports which are of standardized content suitable for international agencies concerned with mass grave investigation.     

A Century of Green Lessons: The Contribution of Nature Conservation Regimes to Global Governance

This paper reviews the lessons learned over the past 100 years in international management and conservation of the Earth's natural heritage and biological resources (fauna and flora), in the face of growing threats of degradation and extinction. The focus is on the effectiveness of intergovernmental and non-governmental institutions – in terms of agenda-setting, regime formation, implementation and compliance, and reactions to non-compliance. Among specific case histories analysed are the ivory trade ban, the whaling moratorium, and attempts at establishing an international forest regime. Innovative governance features highlighted in the field of global living resource management include active NGO participation, the use of selective economic incentives and disincentives (e.g. multilateral or bilateral trade sanctions), and a number of judicial enforcement remedies for both species-based and area-based conservation agreements. The paper concludes by assessing the prospects of transition from the paradigm of 'permanent sovereignty over natural resources' towards new concepts of public trusteeship and stewardship.     

Emissions Rights and their Transferability: Equity Concerns over Climate Change Mitigation

Existing literature on equity considerations for climate change mitigation has largely focused on fair burden-sharing at an inter-national level without adequate attention to equity concerns at the intra-national level. However, disparities between regions and income groups within nations pose perhaps more equity concerns over climate change mitigation than those between nations. While international equity can be agreed upon via political negotiation among nations, the poor in both developed and developing countries may not be guaranteed their fair allocation of emissions rights because the necessary institutional framework has yet to be established at both international and national levels. This paper distinguishes three parts of emissions rights and discusses their transferability in view of equity concerns. The author suggests that basic necessity emissions rights are not transferable and non-necessity emissions are fully marketable, while individual contributions to state are subject to collective decision-making or political manipulation at the international level. The exact share of each of the three parts is subject to further investigation, but unlimited free trading of emissions rights is likely to result in equity concerns at both inter- and intra-national levels. Further examination in quantitative terms would represent an interesting case study for a better understanding of the issue.     

Protecting integrity at the local level: the role of anticorruption and public management networks

This article argues that anti-corruption agencies at the local-level have been successful in a way that can be evaluated and emulated. A related contention is that corruption control is most effective when the central public integrity agency is part of both a local anticorruption network and a local public management network. Quite reasonably, the international anti-corruption project has focused most time and energy on advocating and assessing efforts made to ensure public integrity at the national level. Baseline studies by scholars and supra-national integrity nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) identify the form of corruption control (if any) adopted by the central government. Key considerations in assessing the status of national anti-corruption agencies (ACAs) are the ones mentioned in the introduction to this special issue: political independence, scope of authority, investigatory powers, position in the national legal/political network, durability, and use of effectiveness measures. Similar taxonomies are deployed by OLAF, Transparency International, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and by scholars on corruption control.     

Combating Child Sex Tourism in South‐east Asia: Law Enforcement Cooperation and Civil Society Partnerships

Many states have enacted extra‐territorial child sex tourism (CST) offences. Despite the existence of these offences, some states, including Australia and the United Kingdom, continue to privilege territorial competence as the basis of criminal jurisdiction. However, many destination countries for CST in South‐east Asia lack the capacity to support prosecutions in this crime. This article explores the utility of partnerships between local and international law enforcement agencies and NGOs to facilitate prosecution in the jurisdiction of the offence. Through a case study of Cambodia, the article argues that such partnership arrangements provide the resources and integration required to enable sexual offences against children, by foreign offenders, to be prosecuted. NGOs undertake complex strategies to address the immediate needs of exploited children, while seeking to maintain their capacity to influence government policy. The risks, challenges, and sustainability of such partnerships are discussed, along with wider implications for South‐east Asia.     

论我国环境保护公众参与制度的完善

公众参与环境保护作为环境法的一项重要制度，对于维护公众自身生存环境，弥补国家在环境保护中的不足，实现可持续发展目标具有重要的意义。我国现行公众参与制度存在公众参与的范围较窄，公众参与的方式和内容在立法中原则而抽象，缺乏环境公共利益受损的救济方式，非政府组织（NGO）的力量比较薄弱等缺陷。而保障公民环境知情权．拓宽公众参与的途径与范围，建立环境公益诉讼制度，促进非政府组织的进一步发展是完善我国环境保护公众参与制度的重要途径。     

Financial Institutions between Effectiveness and Legitimacy – A Legal Analysis of the World Bank,Global Environment Facility and Prototype Carbon Fund

Environmental financing is one of the crucial issues of international environmental law and its implementation. From an environmental perspective a prerequisite for success is that financial resources are used in an environmentally effective way. Whether the World Bank, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Prototype Carbon Fund (PCF) can be perceived as effective environmental actors has to be measured by their objectives, their potential to promote accepted environmental standards and their relevant funding practices. After significant improvements of their environmental policies, the World Bank must be considered the most important institution for environmental financing due to its involvement in environmental trust funds but also in regard to its regular lending practices. The GEF remains exceptional due to its institutional structure and scope, whereas the PCF is an example of public–private partnerships that might be a model for future financing via trust funds. Since acceptance of institutions can only be created if they are considered to be legitimate, legitimacy is closely tied to effectiveness. The main criteria for legitimacy are state consent and the equality of states as well as supplementary considerations such as transparency and public participation. From this perspective the World Bank, GEF and PCF structures of voting and participation have come a long way, and despite their particularities and deficiencies they reflect to a varying degree elements of legitimate decision making.     

Translating Human Rights of the “Enemy”: The Case of Israeli NGOs Defending Palestinian Rights

This article explores the practices, discourses and dilemmas of the Israeli human rights NGOs that are working to protect and promote the human rights of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. This case can shed light on the complex process of “triangular translation” of human rights, which is distinct from other forms of human rights localization studied thus far. In this process, human rights NGOs translate international human rights norms on the one hand, and the suffering of the victims on the other, into the conceptions and legal language commonly employed by the state that violates these rights. We analyze the dialectics of change and reproduction embedded in the efforts of Israeli activists to defend Palestinian human rights while at the same time depoliticizing their work and adopting discriminatory premises and conceptions hegemonic in Israeli society. The recent and alarming legislative proposals in Israel aimed at curtailing the work of human rights NGOs reinforce the need to reconsider the role of human rights NGOs in society, including their depoliticized strategies, their use of legal language and their relations with the diminishing peace movement.     

An Analysis of the Role of NGOs in the WTO

It seems that the WTO Secretariat has offered some room forNGOs to participate in both the policymaking and the disputesettlement in the WTO. The note points out the structural weaknessesin the ability of NGOs to do so. Following Richard Shell’s"The Trade Stakeholders Model", this note offers suggestionsfor making NGOs participation more meaningful so as to protecttheir interests. Footnotes ^*LL.B of Law School, Xiamen University, China; LL.M of Law School,Hull University, United Kingdom     

Leadership PAC Contribution Strategies and House Member Ambitions

Leadership political action committees (PACs) are committees headed by federal politicians but separate from the politicians' personal campaign committees. Like other PACs, leadership PACs receive donations from individuals and groups, then make contributions to the political candidates that they support. Previous research indicates that member contribution strategies reflect both party‐based and personal goals. Using a range of data from before and after the 1994 “Republican Revolution,” this study fills a void in the existent research by testing whether or not House members with leadership PACs switch contribution strategies once their party status changes. My analysis reveals that a shift in party status tends to produce a subsequent shift in contribution strategy. My findings also suggest that members, while acting within a party‐based framework, may target their contributions in ways that also reflect their personal goals.