Committee chairman Margaret Hodge said inefficient funding systems and poor cost control had driven up the cost of the programme.

BBC: 'Millions wasted' on inefficient academies scheme

The problems of Asia's financial firms are due not to too much competition, but to over-protection and cronyism, which have encouraged shoddy lending and poor cost-control.

ECONOMIST: Dealing for dollars

"Time and again, we have seen poor design, poor implementation and weak cost control, " he said.

BBC: NHS warned on computer spending

So companies in rich nations meet their obligations under the Kyoto Protocol, while money flows to poor countries, which can then buy pollution-control technology at the lowest possible cost.

FORBES: When Pigs Fly