ABSTRACT
In this chapter we discuss the myriad of relations betweenNGOs and companies involved in the timber trade, around the globe. The deforestation issue provides one of the best examples of how, when governmental and intergovernmental policy processes fail to deliver significant change, civil society can work with the private sector to provide alternative modes for regulating activities that undermine sustainable development. The mobilisation of civil society to combat deforestation has helped make business responsibility for sustainable forest management a market necessity. This chapter describes the
emergence of one of the first civil regulation initiatives to promote business responsibility for sustainable development at the global level. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) represents an institution that has successfully brought together diverse stakeholders to define, identify and promote responsible business practice in the world's forests .
