U-turn on eco-tax rise gives President Macron fuel for thought

Defeat by gilets jaunes will make others think twice before taking similar steps to cut emissions

Emmanuel Macron's defeat by the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) movement over a proposed eco-tax rise is likely to come as a painful lesson for environmental policymakers at this week's UN climate talks in Katowice.

After the most violent protests in Paris for half a century, the French president has been forced to postpone a planned eco-tax rise on fuel, showing how ecological measures can have explosive consequences if there is any suggestion they are being used to "greenwash" austerity.