3. The rise and rise of civil society

NGOs come to the table

Tear gas and lines of riot police provided a grim backdrop for the third World Trade Organization ministerial meeting in Seattle at the end of 1999. The Seattle trade talks are recognized by everyone involved to have been a fiasco, both inside and outside the meeting rooms. But it could also have marked a turning point for the way in which the WTO and other international policy forums conduct their business.

Whether or not world trade can shed its reputation of secrecy and smoke-filled rooms remains to be seen. But on a wider canvas, the decade since Rio has seen civil society make significant inroads into the international policy-making process. Where once NGOs were shouting through the windows, they are now increasingly occupying seats at the table.

The response to this warming of relations, or perhaps the root cause of it, has been a rapid growth in the number of NGOs. The Yearbook of International Organizations estimates the number of international NGOs to be more than 26,000, compared with just 6,000 in 1990.

For governments and international fora, listening to civil society is not just a public relations exercise. It is becoming increasingly vital in terms of achieving the right outcome. Sampling the views of a wide range of interests can make the final outcome more robust and more credible. As Wolfgang Reinicke of the World Bank's corporate strategy group puts it: "Change is a bottom-up process, not a top-down steering committee."

Moreover, in a complex and rapidly changing world, policy-makers are becoming increasingly dependent on the knowledge and experience that NGOs can bring to the table. One manifestation of this evolution has been the emergence of global policy networks--broad-based alliances of organizations connected by a common theme.

The creation of the World Commission on Dams in 1998 is a good example of this mutually beneficial arrangement. The construction of dams is a hotly contested issue, and the decision to build a dam can be politically explosive. In 1997, the World Bank and the World Conservation Union . traditional adversaries on the question of dam construction --decided to seize the initiative and convene a workshop of experts from all sides. From this was born the WCD--an expert forum that was equipped to deliver a cool-headed verdict on dam-building proposals.

Another success story has been the Global Reporting Initiative, whose guidelines now provide the industry standard for corporate environmental reporting.

Many of the challenges to sustainable development cut across national boundaries and may also straddle the traditional dividing lines that exist between academic disciplines. Policy networks can bring disparate views together into one place. The decision that is eventually reached will not necessarily be easy, nor to everyone's liking,but at least processes are opening up and new voices are being heard.