The Environment— Protecting the Global Commons 415condemnation of Brazil’s unsustainable cutting of mahogany trees led that country to
stop all mahogany exports until forestry practices could be improved. Second, NGOs
may function through intergovernmental organ izations, working to change the or ga
ni za tions from within. For example, NGOs transformed the International Whaling
Commission from a body that limited whaling through quotas into one that banned
whale hunting altogether. Third, NGOs can aid in monitoring and enforcing environ
mental regulations, by either pointing out prob lems or actually carry ing out onsite
inspections. For example, TR AFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring program of the
World Wildlife Fund and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature
(IUCN), is authorized to conduct inspections under the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Fourth, NGOs may
function as part of transnational communities of experts, serving with counter parts in
intergovernmental organ izations and state agencies to try to change practices and
procedures on an issue. One such epistemic community formed around the Mediter
ranean Action Plan of the UN Environmental Program. Experts gathered to discuss
ways to improve the quality of seawater, share data, and, ultimately, establish monitor
ing programs. These same individuals also became active in domestic bargaining pro
cesses, fostering learning among government elites. Fi nally, and perhaps most impor tant,
NGOs can attempt to influence state environmental policy directly, providing informa
tion about policy options, sometimes initiating legal proceedings, and lobbying directly
to a state’s legislature or bureaucracy. For climate change, several epistemic communities
have been active. Yet in the long run, despite the increased roles for NGOs and epistemic
communities, it is still states that have primary responsibility for taking action.
a theoretical take
What has made many environmental issues so po liti cally controversial at the interna
tional level is that states have tended to divide along the developed/developing— North/
South— economic axis, although some developed states have been more accommo
dating than others have. From the perspective of some in the developed world, many
environmental issues appear to stem from the population explosion, which they take
to be a prob lem of the developing world, and furthermore, a problem over which gov
ernments in those parts of the world have some control. In this view, the developing
world’s governments must enact policies that slow population growth rates, leading to
a decrease in the pressure on scarce natu ral resources and diminishing the negative
externality of pollution locally, regionally, and internationally.
States of the developing South perceive the environmental issue differently. These
states correctly point to the fact that many environmental prob lems— including
the overuse of natu ral resources and the pollution issues of ozone depletion and green
house gas emissions— are the result of the industrial world’s excesses. By exploiting