Paper short abstract:

Non-state actors are crucial element in the engagement of deleterious Africa-China environmental relations. Using the Ghanaian example, I will discuss their engagement of Chinese environmental footprint in Africa. This is a qualitative study.

Paper long abstract:

Africa-China relations has intensified in the last 20 years but interest in its environmental dimension is only slowly emerging in academic literature. Although diverse (in focus, size, approach, etc.), non-state actors (hereafter NSAs) – ranging from individuals, media outlets to non-governmental organisations – can/have shape(d) Africa-China environmental relations. In this paper, I offer some insights and discussion of NSAs’ environmental agency. Relying on empirical data from Ghana, this paper deepens an earlier argument about how NSAs can provide important “points of engagement” in Africa-China relations – especially in instances where there are “points of exit” when the African State, represented by its government, failed (or is failing, weak, impeded, and/or slow) to engage deleterious aspects of Africa(n)-China(ese) encounters. Specifically, the paper demonstrates that NSAs can serve, and have been successful as a check on Chinese environmental footprints in a country like Ghana. Beyond discussing how NSAs engage negative Africa-China environmental relations, I will situate their success and failures within a broader geo-political context. In addition, I will interrogate the extent to which NSAs can collaborate (or not) with Chinese environmental actors in fostering a sustainable environment in Africa. Although secondary data were sourced from relevant popular and academic publications to paint an African picture of NSAs and their engagement of Africa-China environmental relations, primary data for the paper is based on in-depth interviews with Ghanaian (and Ghana-based) NSAs. The paper is an aspect of a broader qualitative research agenda on State, NSAs and global environmental governance in Africa.