With the host country of this year's COP29 climate conference already forced into an embarrassing course correction over a shocking lack of representation in its organizing committee, the issues of influence, access and exclusion at COP have never been more critical.

Anyone who has ever attended a Conference of the Parties (COP) can attest to the crushing disappointment of traveling thousands of kilometers, only to have United Nations security deny access to the room where key aspects of global climate policy are being debated.

This situation happened to us on more than one occasion as "this room is at full capacity; we are letting no one else in" became a commonly heard refrain.

Such a situation is unfortunately typical of the highly exclusionary system of interstate diplomacy that has been one of the defining institutions of the modern era. This system of exclusion is notably borne of the mundane practicalities of room capacities and on one's status as a "party" (i.e., a national representative) or a "non-party" to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

As Ph.D. candidates in international relations and sociology—and registered participants at COP28 in Dubai—we saw gridlock up close. COP28 produced yet another series of underwhelming decisions celebrated as a "historical achievement" when considered through the lenses of geopolitics instead of those of climate science.

Despite these difficulties, COPs are far from pointless.

States and civil societies

Prior to our departure, and upon our return to Montréal, we have been confronted with widespread cynicism and repeated skepticism from friends and family wondering whether a costly and carbon-intensive global gathering of more than 70,000 people (the biggest COP in history) would ever make a difference in reversing the climate crisis.

We agree to some extent with such criticism, for instance when considering the astounding number of fossil industry lobbyists that attended COP28.

Yet, we have returned from Dubai with a renewed conviction that COPs can nonetheless play a fundamental—if somewhat counter-intuitive—role in guiding the world towards a more sustainable future.

While COPs often fall short as a collective action exercise among states, they are a crucial venue for global communities of practice—groups which stem from diverse civil societies around the world—to take form. This is progressively increasing the influence and power of civil interests relative to sovereign states in international politics.

By progressively integrating non-state—and non-industry—voices within the inner sanctums of international politics, future COPs can contribute to bridging the current separation between state and "non-state" entities.

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