The fuel tax wars can’t be won without a greener alternative

The major international agencies should devise a progressive tax regime that penalises the biggest carbon emitters and offsets costs for the poorest

President Macron needs to win the war on fuel tax. Every country does. It is an issue on which the governments in Paris and Nairobi have been forced to make U-turns. It is rising up the political agenda in other countries, including the UK and Germany, where the rebirth of the Greens and the rise of the rightwing AfD has paralysed the Bundestag.

Without some kind of resolution to how much consumers and business pay for burning fossil fuels - a deal that most agree gets near being fair and addresses the problem of climate change - the battle will not be fought politely inside parliamentary debating chambers, but on the streets.