This chapter examines the evolving relationship between the World Bank, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the environmental social movement (ESM). Specifically, it explores the demands made by environmentalists on the two multilateral economic institutions (MEIs) and the reaction of the MEIs to this constituency. The interactions between the World Bank, the WTO and the ESM have to be understood in the context of the emergence of a global discourse on environmental issues, the respective institutional histories of the MEIs, increasing attention to the institutions of civil society, and the growth of pluralism and diversity in international society. Although the Bank and the WTO are intergovernmental organisations with a membership comprising sovereign governments, not only are their activities the subject of intense scrutiny by non-state actors, but the membership and administration of these organisations have to varying extents become engaged in dialogue with groups representing diverse interests. This chapter examines the salience of these developments from the perspectives of the MEIs and the ESM.

The argument is divided into three substantive sections. The first section is concerned with the environmental social movement, and provides an introduction to the role of the ESM in international politics. The aim of this section is to outline an introduction to the various actors which comprise the ESM, and to assess the sources of influence possessed by various components of the movement. The second section of the chapter focuses on the troubled history of the World Bank's relationship with environmental activists.