Environmental Security and Governance at the Water–Energy Nexus: Greenpeace in China and India

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) provide an important resource to good governance involving complex issues of environmental security. We explore that role by looking at recent campaigns concerned with security at the coal–water nexus in India and China, undertaken by regional arms of Greenpeace, an important international NGO. We find that, at the national level, the impact of NGOs on environmental governance depends deeply on an organization’s relation to government. In China, Greenpeace East Asia serves the government’s interest by providing an external source of information on activities and perceptions at the provincial level. An NGO such as Greenpeace East Asia is perceived as valuable and is tolerated as long as it acts in accordance with the unwritten rules of engagement with the government, as practiced by domestic NGOs. Greenpeace India, by comparison, is one among many NGOs, tolerated as a matter of democratic principle, but suspect because of its international connections. Greenpeace India has yet to have a meaningful impact on governance at the coal–water nexus. Greenpeace East Asia, on the other hand, appears to have found a role that can impact environmental governance, but is dependent upon operating within bounds that are set by the Chinese model of government.