Why Does Pakistan Require a More Critical Approach to the Clean Development Mechanism?

Clean Development is intended to tackle the dumping of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that has accompanied fossil fuel driven development in countries of both the North and the South. Per capita GHG emissions are much higher in the North than the South and mitigation efforts based on carbon trading are expected to provide the main approach to addressing the climate crisis globally. CDM is presented as the South's contribution to global climate change efforts but is tied into and serves the Cap and Trade approach of the North. In this paper Pakistan's contribution to CDM is critically examined at the time of the completion of the first commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol