Every November, tens of thousands of people descend on the world's annual UN climate conference. Every November, tens of thousands of people descend on the world's annual UN climate conference. As climate change has risen up the political and economic agenda, more actors quite rightly want to engage. When those quieter achievements are judged against the expectations generated by a mega-event, disappointment in the UN climate change process becomes almost inevitable. Matthias Roesti is a postdoctoral researcher studying the political economy of climate change at the University of Pennsylvania's Environmental Politics Lab.