Environmental lobbyism
Umweltlobbyismus refers to the form of lobbying by environmental - NGOs .
Environmental lobbyism is an umbrella term for attempted influence on politics with instruments such as participation in committees, economic cooperation, public relations or protest actions.
Development of environmental lobbyism in Germany
For environmental NGOs, the access channels to the political system have improved since the 1990s. The establishment of the ministries for the environment or consumer protection, the parliamentary establishment of the Greens and the involvement of environmental NGOs in committee work were of central importance for this. In particular under the first red-green federal government, the starting position for lobbying by environmental NGOs improved significantly, with the Greens now the political arm of the environmental movement sat in the federal government. The improvement of the chances of influence through this change of government were assessed most strongly in relation to the previous situation, as Klaus-Henning Groth from WWF remarked in 2005: “The awareness for lobbying by environmental protection organizations and for the fact that NGO representatives want to influence and advise politics, that is only just yet of course for a maximum of ten years ”.
In Germany, the lobbying work of the environmental associations is considered weak in terms of budget and number of employees as well as access opportunities. It is therefore usually inferior to competing industrial interests. Lobbying is therefore generally only viewed and used as a supplement to high-profile appearances.
Examples of environmental lobbyism
The non-governmental organizations advocate a wide variety of topics. These include reducing plastic consumption, strengthening public transport, reducing meat consumption and reforestation.
Well-known organizations in this area are, for example, Greenpeace , WWF or the Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland eV
Due to the financial superiority of the industry, the opportunities for the NGOs are reduced, but relevant goals have been achieved. Successes in Arctic protection, sustainable tuna fishing or avoiding the destruction of primeval forests for soy cultivation serve as examples.
Individual evidence
- ^ Köppl, Peter: Power Lobbying - Das Praxishandbuch der Public Affairs, Vienna: Linde Verlag, 2003
- ↑ Bammerlin, Ralf: Environmental Associations in Germany - Challenge to Change under the Sign of the Model of Sustainable Development, Koblenz: Fauna and Flora in Rhineland-Palatinate, Journal of Nature Protection, accompanying booklet 24, 1998
- ^ A b Roose, Jochen: Lobbying for the "good cause" - environmental interests and the power of NGOs. In: Leif, Thomas / Speth, Rudolph (eds.): Die Stille Macht - Lobbyismus in Deutschland, Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag, 2003, pp. 238-252
- ^ Reiss, Manuel: NGO lobbying - a comparison of strategies, status and perspectives of the development potential in environmental protection organizations in Germany, diploma thesis, Department of Political and Social Sciences, FU Berlin 2006