13—Non-state Actors

Question 1

What is a non-state actor?

Answer 1

A non-state actor is a transnational actor who does not represent governments and operates across the globe
—e.g. businesses, NGOs, city and municipalities, women’s movements trade unions and religious organisations

Question 2

How do non-state actors influence global politics?

Answer 2

NGOs participate as observers, thus they do not have any formal representation or voting powers at the COPs

• Nevertheless, they fulfil three fundamental roles:
  
  1. Advocacy and awareness raising
     
     1. e.g. against fossil fuel business
  2. Participation in international negotiations and organisations
     
     1. protesting at the COPs, organisations of alternative people summits, lead to the IPCC foundation
  3. monitor and implementation of climate agreements (watchdog)

💡 The Climate Action Network (CAN), consisting of more than 900 environmentalist NGOs, significantly influenced Kyoto Protocol’s negotiations

Question 3

How are NGOs classified under UNFCCC?

Answer 3

NGOs participating in the UNFCCC have been institutionalised into 9 different constituencies:

1. Environmental NGOs
2. Business
3. Trade Unions
4. Science and technology
5. Indigenous people
6. Local governments and municipalities
7. Farmers
8. Youth and Children
9. Women and Gender

Question 4

Do NGOs enhance global democracy?

Answer 4

Yes, in several ways:

1. Representing public interests
   
   • Acting as a transmitter of citizens’ interests
   • Giving voice to marginalised groups, future generations and animals
   • Acting as watchdogs
   • Aspiring to be a moral conscience
2. Improving accountability and transparency by monitoring governments’ compliance with environmental agreements (an extremely important role since the introduction of NDCs within the Paris Agreement)

Question 5

Are NGOs transparent accountable and effective?

Answer 5

NGOs are built upon a non-democratic nor accountable structure:

• Some NGOs could be only promoting their own political agenda
• ENGOs are largely represented by Western countries, male and middle-class elites aligned with governments

Question 6

What are the actions NGOs pursue?

Answer 6

They may either adopt insider strategies (i.e. lobbying) and outsiders’ (e.g. boycotts, protests, direct actions)

• e.g. the CAN, founded in 1999, adopted insider strategies
  
  • Due to internal dissatisfaction, leftist, anti-capitalist and feminists movement left in 2007 to create CJN (Climate Justice Now), which primarily adopts outsider strategies

Question 7

What is the categorisation of different non-state actors

Answer 7

For-profit non-state actors:
- Instrumental goals, such as growth and profit for their owners or stakeholders
- Mainly consists of multinational corporations, transnational corporations, and business advocacy group

Non-profit non-state actors:
- Target ideas and norms aimed at the common good and act based on principled beliefs
Further distinction into:
1. More professionalized, bureaucratic NGOs/ bottom-up grassroots movements
2. NGOs adopting insider tactics
3. NGOs adopting outsider tactics
4. National non-state actors
5. Transnational non-state actors

Question 8

On what type of power do non-state actors draw?

Answer 8

• Legitimacy (symbolic power)
• Information and expertise (cognitive power)
• Access to networks, organisational capacity and mobilisation capacity (social power)
• Access to key agents and decision-making processes (political power)
• Access to (financial) resources and their position in the global economy (material power)

Question 9

What are structural aspects influencing non-state actors?

Answer 9

1. The easier the access to the domestic political system and the more pluralist the society, the more opportunities transnational actors have to build coalitions and approach decision-makers
2. The existence of an international regime or institution around a certain environmental issue creates more permeable boundaries for non-state actors, which then can facilitate their efforts to influence policy outcomes

Question 10

What structural aspects are influencing non-state actors?

Answer 10

1. The easier the access to the domestic political system and the more pluralist the society, the more opportunities transnational actors have to build coalitions and approach decision-makers
2. The existence of an international regime or institution around a certain environmental issue creates more permeable boundaries for non-state actors, which then can facilitate their efforts to influence policy outcomes