Environmental Nongovernmental Organizations

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are legal entities comprised of individuals and groups that work on a range of issues outside of the scope of government of private companies. NGOs are private, meaning that they are not part of any government, nor are they created by governments. NGOs seek to raise awareness of global problems and often receive money from governments to do so. Many NGOs work as consultants for the United Nations (UN) and other international bodies. Environmental NGOs are often given the acronym ENGOs.

Although there certainly were organizations providing international humanitarian aid long before World War II, the term NGO came into use after the formation of the UN in 1945. The pressures of globalization have resulted in the growth of NGOs since that time. Today there are over 3,000 NGOs that consult for the UN. ENGOs have grown in number ever since environmental issues gained salience in the 1970s.

[Page 166]Some scholars argue that there is no distinction between an NGO and a nonprofit organization. Both of these types of organizations exist to address economic failures by filling the voids left by individual governments and the free market. In the United States, however, the title NGO is used to describe a transnational organization that, although it may be partially government supported, is not a government representative. Nonprofit organizations are those that are tax exempt within the United States and that have to roll over any profit into the operation for completing the mission for which they were incorporated.

ENGOs receive some money in the form of grants from governments, but they can also collect dues from their members and/or partners, receive money from the sales of goods and services, apply for grants from other private funding entities, and ask for donations from private donors. They use this funding to work for the cause in their mission statements. For most ENGOs, this mission has to do with sustainability or biodiversity. NGOs seek to bring about change by raising public awareness of issues, lobbying government officials, getting stories into the press, consulting for the UN and other international bodies, mobilizing the public around salient issues, raising financial support, enlisting volunteers, contributing aid to important projects, and other activist activities.

One example of an ENGO is Conservation International. This is a very well-known NGO that was formed in Washington, D.C., in 1987. Its mission is to protect biodiversity and to teach humans how to live in harmony with nature. Conservation International has identified a large number of biological hot spots. Hot spots are locations that have a high amount of biodiversity located in a relatively small area. Members of Conservation International work to prevent extinction in these areas. The extinction of one species, often called an indicator species, can lead to the collapse of the whole system. In hot spots, this could lead to a mass loss of biodiversity.

Conservation International runs a number of programs related to its mission including the Center for Applied Biodiversity, the Center for Conservation and Government, the Center for Environmental Leadership in Business, the Global Conservation Fund, the Global Marine Partnership Fund, and the Sea Turtle Flagship Program, among others. To make these programs successful, and in an effort to achieve its mission, Conservation International has partnered with governments, corporations, communities, and other NGOs.

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