Examining the cross-sector impact of NGOs' roles on forest-certification policy: An empirical study in China

Abstract

Environmental policy has emerged as a major issue for NGOs, as they are further expected to play an influential role of enhancing cross-sector collaboration to assist governmental responsibilities in ameliorating climate change. The forest certification policy, through a civil organisational pathway of supra-government, is regarded as an approach achieving environmental sustainability. In this study, we examine NGOs' impact on forest-certification policies, which have connected actors' collaborative networks and roles across China. We employ social network analysis to test the transformation of NGOs' roles and their preferences of system-adoption. The results conclude that NGOs have taken the advantage of resources and connections via high reputation and trust collaboration, to form a triadic relationship of checks and balances with governments and associations. NGOs have not only partnered with international organisations (IOs) to function as network centres and bridgers to curb central power, but also broke through the policy stratosphere by establishing heterogeneous relationships with grass-root actors, in order to influence domestic stakeholders' preferences for forest-certification adoption.