Transnational Actors in Environmental Politics : Strategies and Influence in Long Negotiations

For scholars of global environmental politics transnational actors are a central focus and many ascribe them with significant influence. However, it is not always clear how their influence is felt or what strategies are most effective. Most studies that do consider these issues focus either on the role of environmental NGOs or business groups on one international outcome. Very few studies analyse these actors together, limiting how far conclusions can be generalised, and remarkably almost none of this work has considered the influence of these actors and the strategies they could employ in prolonged environmental negotiations that last many years or decades. Drawing on a rich empirical data set from the international climate negotiations, this article does both. It considers how the influence of transnational environmental NGOs and business groups are felt in long negotiations and identifies three strategies that these actors can use not only to influence state behaviour, but each other as well