The influential power of ENGOs : The case of Bellona and the CCS debate in Norway

Abstract

There are significant gaps in previous research on the influence of ENGOs in Norway. My case of ENGO Bellona and its power and influence in the debate on the carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology for gas‐fired power plants (GPPs) shows that a closer look at particular cases regarding the ENGOs influential strength is needed. The literature rooted in the field of political science, the two publications from “Power and democracy” report, did not draw a comprehensive picture of how an ENGO Bellona could become so powerful, that it was given a role of policy entrepreneur several times in the political CCS debate by Tjernshaugen (2010).

Thus I attempted to illuminate the ways in which Bellona could have gained its power and influence. As a theoretical foundation, I chose a framework from the interdisciplinary field of STS, called “an idiom of co‐production” by Sheila Jasanoff. I also used a critique of another STS contribution by Collins and Evans (2002; 2007), which was provided by Jasanoff (2003) and Wynne (2003).

There were two aims with this thesis, one theoretical and one practical. On the theoretical level my findings could contribute to reconsider the traditional networks and structure of power and its executers. On the practical level, there is a need to be aware of the complexity of such hybridized decision‐making, and a need for including more untraditional actors and expert for better understanding of these processes.