ABSTRACT
Traditionally, the question of “who” acts in international politics has received the answer: “Why states of course!” In traditional realist international relations theory, the nation-state has been seen as the unit of analysis and key actor involved in international politics, including the politics of the environment. Liberal and critical approaches to IR, on the other hand, want to highlight that beyond the realm of interstate politics there is an array of actors such as transnational social movements, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and transnational corporations (TNCs) – sometimes referred to collectively as non-state, transnational, or civil society actors – that have a bearing on politics and political outcomes. Questions about “who acts and how” are fundamentally about what constitutes “the political” in global environmental politics.
