Due to the accelerating climate emergency, environmental policy will be at the heart of political decisions for years to come, therefore deeper understanding of all its components, actors and dynamics is crucial. NGOs are one of the key actor in the international arena, advocating relentlessly for climate action. However, the effectiveness and impact of their work has not been vigorously researched. This study aims to understand how pan-European environmental NGOs are impacting international environmental ...
Due to the accelerating climate emergency, environmental policy will be at the heart of political decisions for years to come, therefore deeper understanding of all its components, actors and dynamics is crucial. NGOs are one of the key actor in the international arena, advocating relentlessly for climate action. However, the effectiveness and impact of their work has not been vigorously researched. This study aims to understand how pan-European environmental NGOs are impacting international environmental policy. To do so, the study builds upon the context of the climate crisis and the climate action area of the European Green Deal, as Europe’s response to it. Then, it assesses the role of a selected group of NGOs, the Green10 coalition, in the EGD by analysing their advocacy work, presented through case studies. The impact is determined through a model informed by the Policy Window Theory, Pluralistic Theory and Schumaker’s Assessment of Political Effectiveness. Additionally, a comparison between the NGOs advocacy work and the recently passed European climate policy is provided. The findings show a trend of consistency between advocacy and policy, but NGOs are pursuing higher goals than what European environmental policy delivers. The study presents a step towards the development of a theory that assesses further NGOs and can be used for a comprehensive research of various actors in environmental policy.
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