NGO influence at UN negotiations: Institutional efficiency and socially beneficial outcomes?

There has been a proliferation of non-governmental organization (NGO) participation in international environmental negotiations in recent years, which has come with a great deal of literature on their effectiveness in this role. However, there is no research that connects the effectiveness and influence of NGOs with literature on the role institutional structures play in affecting the possibility to achieve certain outcomes. Bringing together literature on global governance and institutional economics I attempt to draw some conclusions on NGO influence within the United Nations (UN) institutional framework. I gathered information from interviews and observations of the actions of We Canada, a national environmental advocacy NGO that aims to raise awareness about and effect change at the upcoming Earth Summit in Rio. I also observed other NGOs while attending the third intersessional conference for the Rio Earth Summit (Rio+20) in New York. I conclude that NGOs have the ability to influence negotiations within the current institutional framework through agenda setting, forging personal relationships with government officials, partnerships with other NGOs, and educating government delegations and fellow NGOs. Although the goals of these organizations reflective of socially beneficial outcomes, they often lack a focus on institutional reform to increase efficiency of international environmental negotiations