Understanding the policy sphere in which decision-making impacting climate change research and societal response to climate change takes place is a prerequisite for considering integrated uncertainty in climate change policy. It is novel and instructive to recognize that for any policy topic there is a policy sphere composed of three complementary segments. One segment consists of the conceptual foundations of the policy process. In this realm, policy scholars seek to explain how the generic policy process functions. They may use specific policy topics, such as climate change, as testbeds for their ideas. A second segment is policy analysis. In this domain, policy analysts employ systematic processes of prescriptive activities, consisting of analytical techniques applicable across policy topics, to advise decision-makers. A third segment is subject knowledge. This is the province of experts advancing understanding in a specific, topical area, such as climate science. The boundaries between these segments are permeable. Working at the interface between them is a source of new insights to those working in the adjoining segments. This three-segment depiction of the policy sphere helps structure thinking about climate change policy, including how uncertainty factors into it.