The Role of NGOs and Civil Society in Global ... - Yale University

4GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCEThe Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), responsiblefor implementing Agenda 21, classifies civil society into the followingMajor Groups: 2• Women• Children and Youth• Indigenous Peoples and Communities• Non-governmental Organizations• Workers and Trade Unions• The Scientific and Technological Community• Business and Industry• FarmersAll of the Major Groups are officially recognized by the UnitedNations through an accreditation mechanism developed specificallyfor NGOs (Pace, 2002).A noteworthy question connected to the definition of civil societyis whether business and industry should be included in this socialgrouping. While Agenda 21 considers business and industry part of civilsociety, some observers contend that, because they already have considerableinfluence over international governance processes throughinformal lobbying opportunities and formal influence channels, businessand industry should not be included in civil society (Meidinger,2001). Because this chapter focuses on the participation of NGOs, it isnot essential to resolve the business and civil society delineation questionwithin these pages, although determining how business shouldparticipate within governance is clearly of great importance.overview of civil society participation: expandingngo involvementThe participation of civil society in global governance is increasing insignificance, but is not unprecedented. NGO involvement is usuallyconsidered a late-twentieth-century phenomenon, but in fact it has2 The CSD also recognizes the role of local authorities, which are removed enough from theinternational intergovernmental process to be considered civil society in the context of theinstitution.