Mr. Godfrey, as you know, the clean development mechanism is one process a country can use to meet its target under the Kyoto Protocol. Remember, most countries have a target that is achievable and realistic, and as the environment commissioner pointed out, the target set by your party was an arbitrarily set target. What has been set in motion by having an unachievable target and by not having a domestic plan in place led your government--and now to the situation we're in--to the point where the only option was to buy international credits.
Most industry sectors will tell you that the government was forced into a situation whereby billions of dollars of credits would have to be purchased, through the clean development mechanism, from third world countries to reach that target. Most industry sectors will tell you that they will happily come to the table and make changes in their own technology based on the best available technology. But your target basically put a restriction on them to be able to meet what was technologically available to them and forced them to invest money in the clean development mechanism by purchasing international credits.
I would also point out to you that there is a lot of evidence now about the lack of accountability around these kinds of projects. So while your government was investing money in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan and all of those places--and I could list 100 projects where taxpayers' money was involved--I'll tell you what a clean development expert said at the Institute for Policy Studies. She said that because of the lack of accountability around these kinds of projects, which by the way involve firms that are being paid by project participants--the project participants themselves are developers for the projects and also their own inspectors. You're giving a negative response. She said, “You're creating all kinds of incentives for corruption.”
In India, the Centre for Science and the Environment uncovered half a dozen breaches of Kyoto rules requiring developers to consult with local communities about accountability for these projects. He said--