The UK government, according to the BBC, has pledged money to help an African township cut energy costs are actually paying for bureaucrats and accountants. From the BBC:

Ministers announced that last year’s G8 meeting would be the first ever carbon neutral summit and pledged that £50,000 would be given to a scheme in a township in Cape Town which provided energy saving light bulbs and fuel efficient stoves to local residents.

The money is being routed through the United Nations-run Clean Development Mechanism, which gives the stamp of approval to energy saving schemes.

However, the BBC has learned that the whole scheme has turned into a bureaucratic nightmare for the local council who face being left in debt.

Foreign aid will not help both poverty and the environment. You cannot expect money to be transferred to a town/city and that the council will automatically set up a carbon trading scheme. Will people/organisations who advocate foreign aid actually read some of the stuff from William Easterly to see how planners do not always do best. This is one of the problems that might stifle the recommendations of the Stern report; it is difficult to for foreign aid to actually help many countries get out of poverty, nevermind reduce carbon emissions.