As we approach the Copenhagen Conference, where we expect a new multilateral agreement on climatic change to take place, it becomes essential to take civil society into account, rather than pushing it aside as a non-actor for decisions on the environment at the national or international levels. However, analysis of civil society as an actor in this realm allows us to ask the following question: Have civil society organizations taken part in the decision-making processes dealing with the environment? If so, how has it interacted in each phase? In this article we compare civil society behavior in decision-making both at the international and local level, and point to similarities and differences. In particular, we study the impact of international and Colombian civil society organizations in the formulation of environmental policy, and find large asymmetries. Nevertheless, we discover civil society achievements in some arenas and show examples of its positive intervention as local actors favoring decisions with large environmental impact.