WWF and Arctic Environmental Cooperation in the 1990s : A Case Study of a NGO in International Cooperation

The focus of the thesis is to analyse through the case study of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) how did the environmental NGOs respond to the state level cooperation in the Arctic in the 1990s. Time frame of the thesis ranges from 1989 to 1998; from the preparations for the first state-level meeting on the Arctic environmental cooperation until the establishment of the Arctic Council and accreditation of WWF as permanent observer. The thesis analyses how WWF saw the Arctic cooperation, how the Arctic states reacted to WWF’s aspirations to be included, and how WWF pursued a role in the cooperation. Moreover, the purpose of this thesis is, through examining the case of WWF in the Arctic state-level cooperation, to contribute to the research of NGOs acting and pursuing participation in the state-level cooperation forums. The source material of the thesis can be divided into three categories: archive materials; journals; and declarations, documents and strategies of the Arctic cooperation forums. The main archive materials are from the Archives of the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, retaining memorandums, reports, correspondence between officials, diplomats and representatives of NGOs, minutes, and documents. The main publication that has been used as a source is the WWF Arctic Program’s publication Arctic Bulletin. In addition, declarations, strategies and various documents from WWF and Arctic cooperation forums have been used to supplement the archive materials and Arctic Bulletin. Through the source materials different views and strategies of WWF have been examined alongside with the views of Arctic states on WWF’s role in the cooperation. The analytical frame has been constructed against non-governmental organizations acting in the state-level cooperation. The analytical frame is also closely connected to the use of soft-law arrangements in international cooperation as one of their justifications is the inclusion of non-state actors, including NGOs. Through combining methodological features of a case study with the analytical frame of the thesis, the aim has been to present a single-case study on NGO participation in the Arctic cooperation, focusing on a crucial case of WWF. In addition, the case study approach has been supplemented with source criticism, and some characteristics of the social network analysis have been employed in order to indicate the interconnectedness of the actors in the Arctic. The outcomes of this thesis reflect the situation of NGOs in the international cooperation. While the states are willing to acknowledge the NGOs as part of civil society and their role as bridges between the governance and civil society their official inclusion is often a different thing. As the states were in the place to decide who was included to the Arctic cooperation forums, WWF had to make strategic decisions in order to better its situation and secure its inclusion to the official forums. WWF tied alliances with other actors, namely the indigenous peoples’ organizations, but it also had to be cautious in its statements. The central conclusion of the thesis is that the situation of NGOs is still complicated especially in a region such as the Arctic, which is becoming one of the hot points of world politics. One the one hand WWF was expected to fulfill its role as a NGO and on the other it had to be moderate enough in its statements in order to secure its status in the cooperation forums. As the case study of WWF in the Arctic cooperation indicates, the states are open to include non-state actors to the cooperation forums, as long as they are not too hostile towards their respective interests