Following the 1992 Rio Summit, environmental policy integration (EPI) became a popular approach to bring about preventive environmental action in key polluting and resource-using sectors. With the rise of climate change on the political agenda, a similar imperative of climate policy integration (CPI) has emerged.
In this chapter, the authors examine the various questions and possible dilemmas raised by climate policy integration, with some practical examples from EU policy making. This includes a critical examination of the relationship between EPI and CPI, and unpack the concept of CPI in theory and in practice.
Drawing on recent scholarship on climate policy integration, the authors argue that it is important to disaggregate questions of climate policy integration, taking into account the particularities of mitigation and adaptation, as well as those of the different policy sectors with which integration is sought. This shows that like ‘environment’ in EPI, the notion of ‘climate’ in CPI is situational. Depending on the specific context in which CPI is pursued, it may be viewed as commonsensical or as involving difficult political tradeoffs.
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