Do Non-State Perspectives Matter for Treaty Ratification and Implementation? The case of the European Consultation on the Nagoya protocol Amandine Orsini * CReSPo – Research center on political science, Brussels, Belgium ABSTRACT This article investigates what happens when governmental actors foster the participation of non-state actors (NSAs) in treaty ratification and implementation decisions. NSAs, being non-governmental organizations, business groups, citizens, or research institutions, among others, represent interests that will be ultimately impacted by policy choices. While govern- ments have long consulted them on an ad hoc basis, a ‘deliberative turn’ happened in the 2000s to encourage their involvement, for greater legitimacy and transparency through, among others, the use of public consultations. This proactive turn raises questions about public consultations: are such instruments effective? Do they encourage new thinking? Do they matter for final decisions? This article answers these questions by investigating, using lexicometry as main research tool, the public consultation organized by the European Com- mission in 2011 before the ratification of the Nagoya Protocol on access and benefit sharing by the European Union in 2014. The results are mixed. Although the studied public consul- tation favoured the expression of small national NSAs, the process remains poorly inclusive. NSAs did not propose any fresh ideas on the access and benefit sharing issue and their final influence on European decision-makers is blurred by the diversity of interests expressed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment Received 10 June 2015; revised 03 November 2015; accepted 18 November 2015 Keywords: access and benefit sharing; European Union; lexicometry; Nagoya Protocol; non-state actors; participation; public con- sultation; treaty implementation and ratification Introduction G LOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS IS A LIVELY POLICY DOMAIN. NEW INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS ARE regularly negotiated, such as, recently, the 2010 Kuala-Lumpur Nagoya Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, the 2010 Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization, and the 2013 Minamata Convention on Mercury. As a result, the issue of treaty ratification and implementation, although discussed since the early 1970s, remains topical. *Correspondence to: Amandine Orsini, Professor of international relations, Université Saint-Louis, Boulevard du Jardin Botanique, 43, Brussels, Bel- gium. E-mail: amandine.orsini@usaintlouis.be Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment Environmental Policy and Governance Env. Pol. Gov. 26, 377–393 (2016) Published online 29 June 2016 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/eet.1712