Understanding climate policy integration in the global South through the multiple streams framework

ABSTRACT

Actions needed to mitigate and adapt to climate change have often synergies and trade-offs with sectoral and sustainable development priorities, and the recent focus on SDGs and sustainable transitions highlights the need to integrate climate action into other policy spheres. This process is known as climate policy integration (CPI) or climate mainstreaming. Enhancing its understanding as a public policy making process can provide insights for its operationalization, which becomes relevant in the context of the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions in the global South. This paper aims to enhance the understanding of the how windows of opportunity for CPI are formed by drawing on elements from the multiple streams framework (MSF) developed by John Kingdon. This paper analyses grey literature regarding two cases of climate mainstreaming initiatives implemented by international cooperation organizations. The results show that relevant elements from the MSF, such as, attachment to other high-profile national issues, timing the integration with routine institutional procedures, and the presence of policy entrepreneurs, have been catalysing factors for CPI in the context of such initiatives. However, we can only assess the value of this analytical framework for CPI by testing it systematically through case studies in a variety of contexts.

KEYWORDS:

• Climate policy integration
• climate mainstreaming
• policy windows
• multiple streams framework
• developing countries

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributors

Alma Lucia Garcia Hernandez, is a PhD student at UNEP DTU Partnership, DTU Management, Technical University of Denmark (DTU). She carries out research on climate policy integration. She holds an MSc degree in Environmental Studies from Aalborg University, 2013. She also has experience working as an environmental and climate change consultant for the private sector (2007-2011) and for the Inter-American Development Bank (2013-2016). As part of her work as UNEP DTU Partnership she has collaborated in the design and detailed preparation of a Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action for the sugar industry in Mexico (https://www.dtu.dk/english/service/phonebook/person?id=112993&tab=2&qt=dtupublicationquery).

Simon Bolwig, is Senior Researcher at UNEP DTU Partnership, DTU Management, Technical University of Denmark (DTU). He holds a PhD in Geography from the Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, 1999. He carries out research on sustainable energy, climate change, circular bioeconomy, and agro-food systems. He has done research in European as well as in African countries and has contributed to literatures on sustainability transitions, technological innovation systems, policy integration, global value chain studies, and development studies. He was Lead Author on the IPCC AR5 report Mitigation of Climate Change Mitigation (2014). Aside research, he teaches courses on sustainability challenges, supervises PhD students at DTU and at universities in Ghana, and has developed a course on sustainability management for the DTU eMBA. Simon was leading a research group on climate change and sustainable development between 2013-2019. Prior to DTU, he worked at the Danish Institute of International Studies (2004-2009) and at the International Food Policy Research Institute (2000-2004) (https://www.dtu.dk/service/telefonbog/person?id=54005&tab=2&qt=dtupublicationquery).

ORCID

Alma Lucia Garcia Hernandez http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5250-8146

Simon Bolwig http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1537-7938