In designing and organizing the process, inclusive policies are sensitive to critiques and risks imbedded in participatory techniques themselves. Although important, the mere opportunity to participate may not be enough if power is unequal and if those sitting at the table do not have a comparable level of capacity – with its human, institutional and financial aspects – to engage in policy processes. Take the example of indigenous peoples’ participation in climate change negotiations. Although to varying degrees, they often suffer from multiple deprivations and forms of exclusion; they are disfranchised or lack strong agency in the debates around the science and the effects of climate change on ecological and human systems; and their individual and collective ability to participate in contestation, advocacy, negotiation, especially in such complex and long-term policy matters, are reduced. Their resources are also all too often scarce, particularly as compared to those of other better-established stakeholders. These factors make them highly susceptible to being marginalized, despite their participation, and to ultimately bearing the brunt of possible trade-offs. Inclusive policies are mindful of this, avoiding the creation of a mere “illusion of inclusion” in the process of their design and governance.

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