Haiti is an object lesson in how chronic aid – as opposed to emergency aid in reaction to a disaster – can lay waste to a developing economy. For decades, rice imports subsidised by the US government and well-meaning gifts of clothing undermined what should have been two of the country’s biggest industries: agriculture and textiles. The result is a junkie nation, dependent on outside help.
There are going to be a lot more Haitis around in future, thanks to the agreement reached at the UN climate talks in Lima. Developing countries have for the first time agreed in principle to curtail their carbon emissions – in return for payments from western governments towards ‘ambitious mitigation and adaptation actions’.
Strip away the jargon and it amounts to a governmental version of the carbon offset schemes which jet-setting celebrities use to help them feel good about themselves.
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