Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences 2010: North-South relations under the Clean Development Mechanism

The Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences is an annual gathering of scholars, students, policymakers and practitioners to exchange ideas and nurture groundbreaking research. This year's Congress is being held at Concordia University in Montreal, with "connected understanding" as its overriding theme. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol has been hailed as the grand compromise of the North-South divide over climate change mitigation; however, its efficacy in this regard remains poorly understood. As Beth Jean Evans argues in her lecture, an examination of distributive and procedural issues characterizing the CDM shows that significant trade-offs exist between Northern and Southern interests and suggests that the interests of the South are often sacrificed. According to Evans, there is a need for increased attention to and accommodation of Southern interests in the CDM specifically, and global climate change efforts more broadly. This lecture was recorded by Tariq Jeeroburkhan.