Widespread public concern about environmental issues has attracted growing interest in the subject in both the popular media and academic literature. The work of NGOs (non-governmental organisations) like Greenpeace and others in trying to change the environmental policies of governments and business organisations has received some attention, but what has been written is mostly Northern-based and about Northern NGOs.

This book makes an original contribution to the subject in three major ways. First, new evidence is reported resulting from field research in Asia and Africa by a team of social scientists from the Open University and their collaborators. Second, the focus is mainly on NGOs in Asia and Africa; since environmental policies usually emanate from, and are affected by, an international political context there is attention also to the international linkages between Southern NGOs and their Northern colleagues.

Third, the original research reported here relates to important theoretical issues in the academic literatures of comparative politics and the social sciences more generally. This book will appeal to political scientists, other academic specialists and students interested in comparative politics, development studies and the environment. It will also be widely welcomed by development practitioners, including those in official development agencies and environmental NGOs.