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Throughout the world, unfettered capitalism and the obsession with economic growth have led to the destruction of many ecologically important sites, and generated sharp conflicts between the state and civil society actors concerned to protect the environment. Some optimists about the role of civil society actors gloss over the power dynamics in which they are embedded, and their economic and political contexts. The roles civil society organisations (CSOs) can play are contingent on such relationships and contexts, which in turn are affected and transformed by the dynamics of neoliberal globalisation. Our study of environmental CSOs in Turkey, focusing on their institutional context, identifies two crucial dimensions that shape their contribution: their interactions with the state and with financial donors.