Authority, strategy, and influence: environmental INGOs in comparative perspective

ABSTRACT

The work of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) has contributed to the institutionalization of environmentalism. Putting environmental INGOs in comparative perspective, it is argued that differences in authority among INGOs are an important determinant of the strategies that INGOs adopt and the ultimate influence they are able to achieve. This claim is illustrated through an examination of the changing political opportunities for INGOs and a case of a recent private governance initiative, The Sustainability Consortium. The status maintenance concerns of leading INGOs encourage them to adopt incrementalist and pro-market policies that help launch weak governance schemes and frustrate many other environmental INGOs.

KEYWORDS:

• International NGOs
• environmentalism
• authority
• strategy
• Walmart

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. According to the Union of International Association’s Yearbook of International Organizations, INGOs are formal, independent organizations that work in at least three countries. https://uia.org/archive/types-organization/cc (accessed 23 March 2018).

2. Using multiple indicators for each of three audiences – states, other INGOs, and the public – we create a matrix whereby we identify 14 INGOs that can be said to have be leading INGOs – INGOs that have measurable authority before at least two audiences in global politics. See Stroup and Wong (2017), Chapter 3.

3. Membership is tiered. There are multiple levels of contribution (and benefit) available to interested groups. See http://www.sustainabilityconsortium.org/join-tsc/ (accessed 11 March 2015).

4. Other academic partners have included Nanjing University, North Carolina State University, and Wageningen University (Netherlands).

5. The Good Guide is a scientifically informed app that ranks different household products in accordance to their health, environmental, and social impacts. See http://www.goodguide.com/ (accessed 16 March 2015).

6. The list includes Amnesty International, Oxfam, the Salvation Army, Human Rights Watch, Save the Children, Greenpeace, ICRC, World Vision, CARE, WWF, Friends of the Earth, Habitat for Humanity, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, and Médecins Sans Frontières. Stroup and Wong (2017), pp. 60 (Table 3.3).

7. There are a limited number of staff at these two organizations that work with TSC. To protect the subject’s identity, we do not specify here the organization represented. Personal interview with Wendy Wong, March 2015.