Regime interplay: the case of biodiversity and climate change

In this paper, the interplay between the biodiversity and climate change regimes is examined in the context of a case study. An understanding of how the regimes interact is crucial to their successful operation, since it provides insight into how policy options might be drawn up to create synergy rather than conflict among the respective regimes' objectives. Despite the increasing importance of the study of regime interplay, due to its potential influence on regime effectiveness, there is limited understanding of why regimes interact and how their interplay may affect their successful operation, since few empirical studies have been conducted in this area. By analysing the causes of the regime interplay and the potential effects thereof, this paper draws policy implications regarding how the interacting regimes might be better co-ordinated to create synergy. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.