This chapter focuses on the specific role of social movements and NGOs in energy policy-making in the CEE region. This is structured through a series of case studies that highlight contemporary energy policy issues, specifically with relation to energy pricing, issues of equity and energy poverty, nuclear energy, shale gas and renewable energy. The chapter examines how these issues are framed, justified and legitimised, and the extent of broader societal participation and support. To provide context this chapter considers the developing role of civil society in the region, including legacies of socialism, the historical and contemporary role for societal input into general policy-making, changes in state-civil society relations and the development of NGOs and interest groups and their influence on climate and energy policy. It studies these issues in four sub-sections: energy poverty, the shale gas debate and the role of opposition on environmental grounds, nuclear energy and public participation, and local and community energy initiatives.

Environmental groups are important stakeholders because they strengthen the collective voice of their constituents and because they can enhance company value, such as with environmental partnerships, and harm company value, such as with activist campaigns and boycotts. An effective environmental strategy needs to be tailored for environmental group stakeholders and reflect their own strategic needs. Environmental groups compete to provide collective goods and need their own advantage in acquiring supportive stakeholders. An important challenge in responding to activist campaigns is assessing the campaign’s strengths and negotiating terms for a solution that preserves company values. The case of Timberland CEO Jeff Swartz’s response to a Greenpeace campaign against his company illustrates the information and negotiation challenges in many activist campaigns. Environmental partnerships, in contrast, are an opportunity for a company and its environmental group partner to produce triple bottom line outcomes. Important keys to success are finding synergies in the resources that partners contribute and assuring that each side will follow through on its commitments.

Companies’ social and environmental performance has not kept pace with rising pressure for greater contributions to social and environmental improvements. Much of the this pressure comes from nonmarket stakeholders – the environmental groups, community activists, governments, and other actors who engage with companies in a variety of venues to improve their environmental performance. Much of companies’ engagement with these stakeholders involves creating and managing various types of formal and informal institutions. Effective institutions can mitigate collective action problems among companies and their stakeholders, leading to sustainable environmental improvements.