Climate Policy Integration: a Case of Deja Vu?

Climate change is a complex cross-cutting problem that necessitates a high level of policy coordination. One proposed strategy for dealing with such issues is policy integration or mainstreaming. Environmental Policy Integration (EPI) was heralded as one of the key features of sustainable development. However, in recent years Climate Policy Integration (CPI) has come to the fore. This article argues that CPI is an emerging concept that has received insufficient attention in the literature, despite gathering increasing prominence in policy circles. In particular, the precise nature of the relationship between EPI and CPI is still unclear. This article compares CPI with EPI in order to systemically unpack what CPI means both conceptually and in practice. The article finds that CPI is less about ambitious and expansive integration across all policy sectors and more about engaging a narrower set of sectors to work together in particular ways to meet specific goals. Copyright (c) 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.