Multilateralism À La Far-Right? The Delegation Politics of Far-Right Governments in the UNFCCC

Far-right parties are increasingly represented in democratic governments worldwide. Their participation not only reshapes foreign policy preferences but also affects the practices of multilateral diplomacy with and within international organizations. Plenary bodies of international organizations—such as the Conference of the Parties (COP) in the case of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)—constitute key arenas of “liberal” international order where state delegates negotiate agendas, priorities, policies, and budgets as well as reforms. Over recent decades, scholarship has observed a marked shift towards a more “technocratic” mode of global governance, increasingly emphasizing expertise and specialization. How much does the composition of state delegations reflect this trend over time? And to what extent does the rise of the far right significantly affect it? To address these questions, we use original data on more than 100,000 participants at UNFCCC COPs between 1995 and 2024 and study the effect of far-right government participation on size, composition, and personal continuity of state delegations.